Archie Wilson shares his picks and plays for the Round of 16 clash between USA and Belgium.
Belgium will face the USA in the last 16 after a 3-2 win over the disavowed African champions.
Conveniently, the European side stay put in Seattle to face the co-hosts, who had a much more straightforward path to the Round of 16, beating Bosnia 2-0 several hours after the Red Devils required extra time to complete their fightback. If the USA can succeed where Senegal failed, they will be looking at a place in the quarter-finals
After a mid-game scuffle with teammate Leandro Trossard, Youri Tielemans was clearly pumped up and took centre stage against Senegal last time out, bagging two goals to send the Belgians into the last 16.
These sides met in a friendly in March where Belgium ran out 5-2 winners, and although Tielemans only played 20 minutes from the bench, Rudi Garcia’s men generated 21 attempts at goal and hit the target with 10 of those, suggesting they’re more than capable of breaking the American backline down
It could get messy for the USA if Belgium are on song, however, the hosts are favoured to progress through to the last eight, and that probably comes down to their star striker Folarin Balogun being available after a controversial red card against Bosnia.
Apart from the dreadful clash between South Africa and Canada and Colombia’s 1-0 win over Ghana, every other round of 32 game saw more than two goals. And again, three of four in the round of 16 have seen at least three scored.
Tips
Best Bet: Youri Tielemans 2+ Shots @ $2.95
Best Goalscorer: Youri Tielemans @ $6.00
Value: Both Teams to Score & Over 9.5 Corners in Regular Time (Betcha Boost) $3.50
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