Wednesday, June 20, 2018

Portugal vs Morocco - Competition: World Cup

Ronaldo was the hero for Portugal team in their opening game by scoring his first ever World Cup hat-trick in the 3-3 draw against Spain. CR7 became the first ever player to score at eight consecutive major international tournaments. The European champions have lost just one competitive game in four years but their defense is a major concern: the Iberians have conceded 3 golas to Spain and Netherlands, two to Tunisia this year.
No changes are expected from the side that drew 3-3 with Spain on Friday night. Andre Silva will be hoping to replace Gonçalo Guedes as Cristiano Ronaldo's strike partner, but the AC Milan striker is likely to be benched again. Bernardo Silva and Bruno Fernandes will play out wide with Joao Moutinho and William Carvalho anchoring the midfield. The four man backline will be formed by Raphael Guerreiro, Pepe, Josè Fonte and Cedric Soares. New Wolves' goalkeeper Rui Patricio will start between the sticks.
Morocco team  lost 1-0 to Iran in their opening WC match. The African nation wasted a whole host of chances to put away Iran in their Group B match and they were punished deep into added time when Aziz Bouhaddouz headed the ball into his own net. Picking up points against Portugal and Spain will not come easily for them, but Morocco only conceded three goals in qualifying and will try to frustrate their opponents. Portugal’s ageing defence were exposed far too much against Spain, and Morocco will have every chance of getting on the scoresheet here.
Morocco aren't expected to make any major changes to their squad. They will be without winger Nordin Amrabat, who had to go off with concussion against Iran. Nabil Dirar is a doubt and could miss out here, with Hamza Mendyl in line to start at left-back and Achraf Hakimi set to switch to right-back. The likes of Hakim Ziyech, Amine Harit and Youned Belhanda are expected to retain their starting berth behind the lone striker Ayoub El Kaabi.

Probable lineups:
Portugal: RuiPatricio – Soares, Pepe, Fonte, Guerreiro – Moutinho, W.Carvalho – B.Silva, B.Fernandes, Guedes – Ronaldo.
Morocco: Munir – Dirar, Saiss, Benatia, Hakimi – El Ahmadi, Boussoufa – Ziyech, Belhanda, Harit – El Kaabi.

Date: 20 June 2018 - Kick-off Time: 13:00 BST
Venue: Stadion Luzhniki, Moskva

 





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