World Cup Quarter-Final preview: Can Brazil dance their way into the semis?

Following an intense end to their Round of 16 fixtures, the eight quarter finalists face off against each other in a bid to reach the final four.

We preview the first two quarter finals below.

Croatia v Brazil

Croatia had a nervy start to their Round of 16 after going 1-0 down to Japan on Monday, however managed to scrape back the victory by showing their composure at the penalty spot, securing their place in the quarter-finals.

Brazil on the other hand showed no mercy dispatching South Korea in a 4-1 victory and hunt down a spot in the semi-finals which would mark their ninth World Cup semi-final. The tournament favourites will also kick off as the 1/3 favourites against Croatia, which is no surprise given the dominance they’ve displayed so far.

Croatia will enter the Education City Stadium as the 17/2 underdogs and will need to find a way to close down the free-flowing Brazilian attack to secure a victory here, which is no small task given Brazil’s attacking prowess with players like Neymar (23/20 to score anytime), Richarlison (13/10 anytime) and Vinicius Jr. (13/5) in their squad.

Croatia also pose their own threat with many talented players in their starting XI, such as their captain Luca Modric who plays a crucial role in gluing the team together, Ivan Perisic, who scored a screaming header to equalise against Japan and Andrej Kramaric. Croatia’s top scorer so far is 4/1 to add another to his tally against Brazil.

Overall this is set to be an exciting match up between two top-class international teams, and will no doubt be electric from start to finish if Brazil get their way. It is set to be a high scoring affair with the total match goals over 2.5 priced at 4/5.

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Netherlands v Argentina

The Netherlands flew through to the quarter finals in style with a 3-1 domination of the USA, meaning they are still unbeaten in Qatar. Argentina endured a few nervy moments against Australia in their round of 16 match up, but ultimately had too much quality for their opponents, running out 2-1 winners.

Up to this point in the tournament the Netherlands have looked on form, finishing at the top of their group. So far they have scored eight times and conceded only twice. They head into this game as the 13/5 underdogs, whereas Argentina, who also topped their group, are the favourites at 6/5.

Over 2.5 goals seems like a decent bet between these two skilled teams, priced at 11/8. For the Netherlands their main attacking threat comes from Memphis Depay and Cody Gakpo, priced at 27/10 and 2/1 respectively to score anytime.

Argentina have a well-rounded team but it is hard to see their squad having anywhere near the attacking threat without Lionel Messi – 8/5 to score at anytime – who has scored crucial goals for his country already and currently sits on three for the tournament.

Both of these highly talented teams will go head-to-head to secure a spot in the semi-final, and there is practically nothing separating them. It’s an unmissable World Cup clash with the match to go to penalties priced at 9/2, which occurred last time the two sides met in 2014.

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