Partner Content | Canada vs. Morocco World Cup picks and odds: Don’t expect many goals to be scored

Morocco hasn’t conceded a goal this tournament and we expect its defensive prowess to shine again on Thursday.

The Atlas Lions forced a 0-0 draw against Croatia in their opener before beating Belgium 2-0 in their second game. In both cases, opponents were held to three shots on goal or fewer.

Canada has only found the net once so far, thanks to a heroic header from Alphonso Davies on Sunday morning. That goal made history for Canada’s national program but it was also the Reds’ only real scoring opportunity that game.

Jonathan David recorded Canada’s only other shot on net in the 56th minute but it didn’t really test Croatia’s keeper, Dominik Livakovic. Outside of Davies’ goal, every shot attempt Canada had was from outside of the box.

Morocco’s defence should hold Canada at bay and we don’t expect its offence to be taking many risks, either. All Morocco needs to advance is a draw, which should have it playing a slightly more conservative brand of football.

Key stat: Two or fewer goals have been scored in three of Canada and Morocco’s four combined World Cup games.

Quick picks

Morocco to win (+114): We think Canada is going to have a tough time in this game. Morocco is one of the youngest teams in this tournament, with an average age of 26 years and two months. That should mitigate Canada’s athleticism and pace, which we saw dominate Belgium’s aging back end.

The Moroccans also have stars like Hakim Ziyech and Youssef En-Nesyri on the attack and they are more than capable of causing Canada’s defence fits.

We expect Morocco to press early. If it can get a quick goal, expect Walid Regragui’s squad to tighten up defensively and park the bus.

Morocco to win to nil (+260): If you’re looking to bet on the Atlas Lions and want a bigger plus-sign, this is where you should head. We’re not expecting Canada to find the net against Morocco and think a 1-0 or 2-0 loss is very much in play here.

Morocco has done well to keep both Croatia and Belgium off the board and Canada’s offence is far less prolific than either of those teams.

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