This article is part of our World Cup series.
The World Cup quarter-finals get underway Friday with two of the tournament favorites in action, Brazil and Argentina. Will the favorites continue to advance or will Croatia and Netherlands provide upsets?
World Cup Best Bets for Brazil versus Croatia
No goals in the first half between Brazil and Croatia +200
World Cup first-half bets can be found at the DraftKings Sportsbook. If you need to sign up, click through our DraftKings promo code page for a deposit bonus.
If you want to bet Croatia, there are a lot of options. However, I won't be taking that route. While I like their team, they were probably the worst team to have to play extra time given the age of guys like Luka Modric and Ivan Perisic. It was surprising to see Modric go off last match, but at 37 years old, he can't play 120 minutes anymore and not be tired a day later.
No matter, this matchup is different than anything Croatia have faced in the tournament, as they'll have to play more defensive and play off the counter to Perisic and whoever starts on the right wing. Brazil did whatever they wanted to South Korea's back line, but Croatia are a bit different with Dejan Lovren and Josko Gvardiol in the back. Of course, Croatia still have some questions at full-back, which may be where Brazil attack the most with Vinicius Junior and Raphinha on the edges.
Still, I think the experience and veteran play within Croatia's squad is something that could lead to a slow start for Brazil. Everyone will be on Brazil after their last match, but I'm kind of going against that with no goals in the first half at +200. I think this will be a fight early on and the easy opportunities probably won't be there for Brazil.
World Cup Best Bets for Argentina versus Netherlands
Argentina over 4.5 corners against Netherlands -105
This should be a fun match. Argentina haven't played a side with this quality of counterattacking and Netherlands haven't faced anyone near the level of Lionel Messi. Argentina figure to work the ball around similar to the United States in that Round of 16 matchup, but Messi will likely drop back a bit to receive it and work his magic.
The big thing will be if Nicolas Otamendi and Cristian Romero can hold their end of things when Netherlands inevitably go on the counter with Cody Gakpo and Memphis Depay. Argentina have seemingly figured things out since giving up the two counters against Saudi Arabia, but they'll likely be at a disadvantage on the wings and their center-backs can be beat. If Angel Di Maria isn't fit enough to start, there's a chance Argentina match with a 3-4-3 formation, something they tried at times against Australia.
I took this bet with the United States and it hit late and I'll take it again with Argentina. They'll have the majority of possession and likely be in the attacking third more, so getting to five corners seems reasonable. Many will look to the one corner Argentina had against Australia, but it's best not to put too much into exact numbers from prior matches when dealing with corners.
World Cup Quarter-Finals Betting Picks Friday, Dec. 9
- No goals in the first half between Brazil and Croatia +200
- Argentina over 4.5 corners against Netherlands -105
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