💎 Gem Bet: Amad Diallo - 2+ Fouls Won @ 1.83 (Bet365)

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Amad Diallo was the standout player for Ivory Coast at AFCON earlier this year, netting three goals across just four starts. He’s a very fun player to watch because of how direct he is, he’s always willing to try and take on his opponent as shown by the seven successful dribbles he completed during that tournament (1.78 per 90).

This direct nature makes Diallo very good when it comes to winning fouls. He was hauled down nine times across his four starts during AFCON (2.29 per 90) and maintained an average of 1.46 fouls won per 90 across his 27 starts for Manchester United during the 25/26 Premier League season.

His domestic record may not look as convincing, but he was asked to fill in quite a few different roles during the campaign, including at wingback, whereas his role is more clearly defined for his national side. He came on against France in Ivory Coast’s final warm-up game at half time, scoring what proved to be the winner as well as winning two fouls from three attempted dribbles.

Ecuador are a very stubborn side, the only way that Ivory Coast are going to be able to unlock them is by trusting their wide players in these 1v1 duels to open up space. Ecuador averaged 12.89 fouls per game during qualifying, I expect them to be just as aggressive here - particularly in those wide areas where they are likely to double up on the wingers given that their system involves wingbacks.

There’s some really appealing Sub On Play On options for Diallo as well, Ivory Coast are stacked with attacking talent and the players that could replace Diallo all have very strong foul won numbers:

Bazoumana Traore - 1.12 fouls won p/90
Nicolas Pepe - 1.62 fouls won p/90
Evan Guessand - 1.97 fouls won p/90

There’s clear value here when taking this angle with Bet365, the exact same selection is priced as low as 1.4 with other leading bookmakers.