Portugal V Morocco Predictions & Betting Odds

Portugal v Morocco Betting Preview – World Cup 2018 20th June – 1.00 p.m
(Full time: 1:0 – goals: Ronaldo 4′)

Portugal got a good point under their belt from their opener against Spain and the coast is now clear for them to sail through to the round of sixteen with the hard work done. This will be just a matter of not taking their eye off the ball as they face up to Morocco. Morocco were on top for large parts of their opener against Iran but still slipped to a defeat and their qualification hopes are lying in tatters and in our Portugal v Morocco predictions, we can’t see how they are going to recover.

Table of Contents

Portugal News and Form

Portugal did a good early join against Spain in their group opener and while they were hanging on for most of the second half, they managed to get out with a 3-3 draw. Their game plan is simple, try and stay as tight as possible and hit Cristiano Ronaldo on the break. It’s a plan and it works for them most of the time. Cristiano Ronaldo is the 13/5 favourite in the bet365 first goalscorer market* (Betting Odds were taken on June 18th, 2018 at 4:39 p.m.) for this one and while the Iberians are reliant on him, as long as he is scoring, does it matter? Portugal actually put in a good shift as a team against Spain, closing down space and breaking quickly when they could. They should be a bit more comfortable in taking on Morocco for the large part as they should see more of the ball. Three points in this one leaves Portugal comfortable.

Portugal are W1 D3 in their last four games though so that lack of wins in current form will make punters a little hesitant about backing them at such as short price. The thing is with Portugal they don’t actually look as if they have more in them, they don’t look as if they are able to churn out better performances. A Portugal 1-0 option in the bet365 correct score market at 5/1 odds* (Betting Odds were taken on June 18th, 2018 at 4:39 p.m.) and that has appeal in our Portugal v Morocco predictions. That is because they haven’t been winning much lately and they basically just need to do the job of getting the points. If you wanted to get a little bolder than a Ronaldo/Portugal Scorecast would probably make an appealing option for this one too for a bigger risk.

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Morocco News and Form

Morocco didn’t play badly against Iran and actually had the better of the game. They couldn’t produce that touch of quality in the box to get themselves the win. Then they were undone by an own goal in stoppage time. So that leaves Morocco chasing things now in the group and anything less than three points in this game isn’t going to help their cause. So they may well come out as they did against Iran and get up an early head of steam. An early goal would give them something to play for. Morocco will have seen Portugal conceded against Egypt and Tunisia in the last six matches that the Europeans have played. If you consider that Morocco are the highest ranked CAF team at the World Cup, they will fancy their chances of making a breakthrough. Both teams to score is at 21/20 odds* (Betting Odds were taken on June 18th, 2018 at 4:39 p.m.) though. Morocco have the form of W4 D1 L1 in their last six games and nine times out of ten on the day would have beaten Iran. They need a major World Cup upset to happen here against the European champions to keep their qualification hopes alive.

Portugal v Morocco Head to Head

This will be just the second game between Portugal and Morocco. The only previous one was actually a World Cup fixture back in 1986 and the Africans pulled out a big 3-1 win on that occasion. They need a repeat of that.

Portugal v Morocco Betting Odds*

Portugal 4/6
Draw 14/5
Morocco 5/1
* (Betting Odds were taken from bet365 on June 18th, 2018 at 4:39 p.m.)