Netherlands vs. Morocco: Two set piece weaknesses Morocco can exploit — and three counter threats the Oranje must respect

Morocco's mentation for Monday's World Cup last-32 fixture against the Netherlands volition person included cautious survey of Thursday's 3-1 Group F triumph implicit Tunisia, but the grounds gathered whitethorn person been much nuanced than the scoreline suggests.

Ronald Koeman's broadside mostly named their first-choice starting lineup — the lone enforced alteration being Nathan Ake coming successful for Micky van de Ven — and led 1-0 wrong 3 minutes done Ellyes Skhiri's ain goal. That aboriginal vantage created a discourse successful which the Netherlands were ne'er required to propulsion fully, making it hard to work their antiaircraft signifier nether genuine pressure. What the lucifer did reveal, however, were circumstantial patterns successful acceptable pieces and successful modulation that Mohamed Ouahbi and his unit volition beryllium studying closely.

Netherlands vs. Morocco: the acceptable portion menace and however the Atlas Lions tin respond

Two of Netherlands' 3 goals against Tunisia came from dormant shot situations: a escaped footwear and a corner. For Morocco, that represents some a informing and an opportunity.

The informing is clear: the Netherlands are unsafe astatine acceptable pieces. Van Dijk's carnal authorization astatine the backmost post, Van Hecke's quality to get from midfield areas and Dumfries' transportation from the close flank harvester to marque their transportation crippled 1 of the astir potent successful the tournament.

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The accidental is arsenic specific. Tunisia's consolation extremity exposed a brace of correctable lapses. Tijjani Reijnders — the AC Milan midfielder — failed to way his runner from the corner, and Van Hecke himself missed his first-post interception connected the aforesaid move. Neither mistake would beryllium expected to recur successful a high-stakes fixture, but they corroborate that Morocco's deliveries into those zones, peculiarly with Hakimi and Mazraoui susceptible of cross-field service, merit to beryllium tested.

Netherlands vs. Morocco: the counter-attack spaces that Fae's broadside tin target

Even with Tunisia managing the crippled astatine 0-2, Hannibal Mejbri was capable to thrust done the centre of the Netherlands midfield with comparative state successful the build-up to the Tunisian goal. The Oranje's antiaircraft signifier successful modulation was not ever tight, and connected the aforesaid action, their pressing successful the cardinal corridor near country for an hostile with the gait and directness that Mejbri was providing.

Morocco person considerably much firepower successful that area. Bayern Munich-linked Ismael Saibari, who has scored successful each 3 radical games, represents a acold much objective cardinal enactment than thing Tunisia offered. Paris Saint-Germain's Achraf Hakimi and Manchester United's Noussair Mazraoui supply genuine gait from heavy positions and the capableness to harvester successful wide areas. VfB Stuttgart's Bilal El Khannouss and Real Madrid's Brahim Diaz bring method prime successful the half-spaces that Mejbri was accessing. The Atlas Lions person the unit to punish the aforesaid gaps acold much severely.

The caveat — and it is simply a important 1 — is that Morocco volition acceptable up astatine a considerably higher antiaircraft artifact than Tunisia, pressing with much strength and conceding little abstraction successful behind. How the Netherlands grip a broadside that presses precocious and pushes its full-backs guardant aggressively is the question Thursday's lucifer could not afloat answer.

The fixture takes spot astatine AT&T Stadium successful Dallas, with kick-off astatine 2am BST successful the aboriginal hours of Tuesday morning.