Canada raced to nine corners in the first half of their opening match against Bosnia and are likely to win another high count in this regard against a Qatar side they will expect to dominate. Jesse Marsch’s side want to impose themselves on their opponents in every game and they do this by attacking down the flanks. It has consistently won them a huge corner count in recent games. Across the six matches they have played this year, they have never dipped below seven corners, while they have topped out at 12 on two occasions and average 9.5 per game in that sample.

Qatar are a side that habitually pick up multiple bookings per match, as shown against Switzerland in their first game as they picked up a couple. That continued a remarkable streak in which the Gulf nation have earned 2+ cards in 14 of their last 16 competitive matches.

They landed this bet in both their fourth round qualifiers and in eight of their 10 third-round games. The only fixtures that they did not were the blowout defeat (4-1) against Iran and the easy win (5-1) over North Korea. With Canada of the mindset that they will take the game to their opponents, and are likely to have direct runners in possession, the referee will be presented with plenty of opportunities to show his cards. Referee Cristian Garay averages 4.86 cards per game this season.

The Canadian right back mustered one shot against Bosnia in the opening match and stands a strong chance of replicating that feat in this game. Johnston will face a scenario familiar to him at club level with Celtic, where he often faces low defensive blocks.

In Scotland this season, he had at least one shot in four of his six starts for the Glasgow side, in which he completed 35 or more minutes, including three of his last four games. He will be encouraged to attack, too, with both full backs getting forward an aspect of Marsch’s attacking philosophy. During the previous World Cup, he had a shot in two of Canada’s three matches. There is a slim chance that the ultra-attack-minded Alphonso Davies is fit enough to replace him and get a few late minutes.

The Celtic right back is the type of player who is ever involved in the thick of the action, and that means putting up a high foul count. He has made at least one foul in each of his last six competitive international starts, including a couple against Bosnia-Herzegovina in the opening match of the tournament.

His likely head-to-head opponent is Akram Afif, who has won 1+ fouls in 36 of the 38 competitive international matches where fouls data is available, including winning two fouls in each of his last three games.

Look for Folarin Balogun to have three or more shots against Australia on Friday night. The USA forward arrived at the tournament in strong goalscoring form for both club and country, and he has carried that into the World Cup by bagging a brace against Paraguay. Notably, he registered five attempts in that game.

Looking further back across his 10 appearances for the co-hosts in the build-up to the World Cup, Balogun registered two or more attempts in seven of those outings.

He was also a serial shooter for Monaco in Ligue 1 last season, averaging 3.09 attempts per game, with his Champions League average close behind at 2.99. 

Australia lined up in a back five against Turkey and are likely to do the same here, which should invite sustained pressure and leave Balogun well placed to register at least three attempts.

I’m also backing Folarin Balogun to be fouled at least twice.

The USA striker is likely to attract extra attention here after his display against Paraguay last week. Not only did Balogun score two goals in that game, but he was also fouled on four occasions.

That ability to draw fouls was also evident in the USA’s final warm-up game against Germany, when Balogun was brought down two times. Looking further back, he was fouled a total of four times across his three appearances at the Copa America a couple of summers ago.

His domestic numbers last season further support the angle, as Balogun was drawing an average of 1.49 fouls per game in Ligue 1, rising to 1.99 in the Champions League.

He is likely to come into regular contact with all three of Australia’s centre-backs, two of whom committed fouls against Turkey.

Back the USA’s clash with Australia to produce at least two goals.

The USA began their World Cup campaign in emphatic fashion with a 4-1 win over Paraguay. Prior to that, their matches had been consistently generating goals, with 14 straight games featuring over 1.5 goals, while six of their final seven warm-up fixtures overcame the over 2.5 hurdle. 

While Australia may look to keep things tight and perhaps play for a draw, which could be enough to secure qualification, five of their last eight matches have featured over 1.5 goals.

Notably, one of those games was a friendly against the USA late last year, which the Stars and Stripes edged 2-1.

Mohamed Toure looks a strong contender to commit at least one foul in this contest. The Australian forward could be facing a difficult assignment leading the line against a USA side expected to dominate possession.

As a result, Toure may find himself pulled into wider areas and forced into defensive situations where he risks conceding cheap free kicks. He was guilty of two offences against Turkey last time out and had previously been penalised in five of his six appearances for the Socceroos.

Toure also showed during his time with Norwich last season that he can be prone to overstepping the mark, committing a combined total of four fouls across his final four appearances of the campaign.

He is likely to come up against USA defender Chris Richards, who was fouled once against Paraguay last Friday.

Tyler Adams is a player I regularly target to commit two or more fouls. The USA midfielder carries a real combative edge that was evident against Paraguay on matchday one, when he was reprimanded on multiple occasions and picked up a yellow card for his troubles.

The 27-year-old also committed 2+ fouls in each of the USA’s final two World Cup warm-up matches against Germany and Senegal, while the same was also true in friendly fixtures against Japan and South Korea last year.

Adams is also a familiar figure to Premier League referees, as he averaged 1.82 fouls per game last season, committing two fouls in each of his final three appearances of the campaign.

The case is further strengthened by the likelihood of a direct midfield battle with Aidan O'Neill, who has been fouled a combined total of six times across his last three starts for Australia.