I usually expect knockout round ties to be quite tight and tense, but I do think we’ll get some entertaining games in the Round of 32, and this should be one of them.

The Netherlands have seen 2+ goals in all three of their World Cup matches so far, notably failing to keep a clean sheet in any of these games.

Morocco have seen 2+ goals in two of their three matches so far, with the exception of their 1-0 win over Scotland, which was made a scrappy affair by Steve Clarke’s side, who were trying to avoid a heavy defeat.

Morocco also showed a few signs of defensive vulnerability against Haiti in their final group game, conceding two goals to the minnows in a 4-2 victory.

On paper, this Netherlands backline should be one of the strongest at the World Cup, but that has been far from the case so far with Ronald Koeman’s side conceding in all three of their group matches. 

Bart Verbruggen has been pretty busy across these games as well, making 11 saves across his three starts (3.67 per 90) with a save percentage of 73.3%.

I quite like Verbruggen, he’s a decent shot stopper and has shown that he can cope with the pressure - if it wasn’t for his saves, the Netherlands could find themselves in a very different situation.

Morocco have the attacking talent to test him at least twice; they forced two saves from Alisson against Brazil in their opening game and also drew eight saves from Placide in the Haiti net last time out.

Cody Gakpo is really suited to international football; he’s always delivered for the Netherlands, and this tournament has been no different, with three goal contributions across his three starts so far. 

He’s taken nine shots across these games (3.14 per 90), seeing five of these efforts find the target (1.74 per 90). He was just as effective for the Netherlands during qualifying, with eight goal contributions across eight starts, four of these being goals.

Gakpo found the target eight times across these matches (1.10 per 90) from a wider average of 2.48 shots per 90. I think he’ll be key to any success that the Netherlands get in this tie given his impressive record at the international level - Gakpo has netted 23 goals across just 53 caps, which is a decent return for a winger.

I love Ismael Saibari, and I'm really looking forward to seeing him at Bayern Munich next season after he secured a well-earned move on the back of a strong season for PSV.

He’s been leading the line for Morocco at the World Cup, which is a really smart move by Mohamed Ouahbi, as Saibari’s traits make him the best player to pull together this Moroccan frontline, which has been fun to watch so far and really fluid.

Saibari has scored in all three of his World Cup matches so far, earning man of the match in two of these games. He’s taken 10 shots across these games (3.70 per 90) and has been very clinical with all three of his attempts on target ending up in the back of the net.

Saibari scored three goals across three starts for Morocco during qualifying, managing five shots on target across those appearances (1.47 per 90).

Hakimi is going to be involved in a key battle here against Cody Gakpo, which could end up deciding the outcome of this clash. Hakimi loves to get forward; he’s created 11 chances from right back already for Morocco (3.67 per 90), which is more than any other player at the World Cup.

This does leave a bit of a gap behind him, though, which is where Gakpo can really profit. The Liverpool winger averaged 1.79 fouls won per 90 during qualifying and will be aware of how often Hakimi likes to get forward. 

Hakimi often has to make recovery challenges as a result of wanting to push forward so often and has committed four fouls across his three starts at the World Cup so far (1.33 per 90).

He averaged 1.61 fouls per 90 across his four starts at AFCON earlier this year, showing a clear trend when it comes to committing fouls for his national side.