Netherlands and Qatar face off on Tuesday in a World Cup Group A soccer showdown at Al Bayt Stadium.
The Netherlands comes into this game sitting in 1st place in the group having picked up four points. All the Netherlands need is a win or draw in this game to get into the knockout stage of this tournament. The Netherlands opened up the World Cup with a win over Senegal, and in the last game against Ecuador, they played to a 1-1 draw. Cody Gakpo opened up the scoring in the 8th minute. They had 55 percent of the possession and one shot on target, Memphis Depay has come off the bench in the last two games, but it’s expected that he will move into the starting lineup here. Steven Berghuis is also expected to move into the starting lineup here in the midfield.
On the other side of this matchup is Qatar, who sits in 4th place in the group having picked up zero points. Qatar has already been eliminated from the World Cup, but a win here would be huge for the team. Qatar has really struggled so far in the World Cup. Qatar lost the first game 2-0 against Ecuador and in the last game against Senegal they were defeated 3-1. Mohammed Muntari scored in the 78th minute for Qatar, but it wasn’t enough as the defense really let them down. Mohammed Muntari scored off the bench in the last game, and that could mean he moves into the starting lineup for this game. Abdulaziz Hatem was also good off the bench in the last game, and he could start in this game.
Qatar has only scored one goal so far in this tournament, and they are going to find this tournament with only one goal. I don’t trust this Qatar defense, and they are going to really struggle to slow down the Netherlands here. Look for the Netherlands to score two or three goals, and that will be enough to get the job done here. Back the Netherlands -1.5 to cash here.