💎 Gem Bet: Jan Paul van Hecke - 1+ Fouls Won @ 1.83 (bet365)

This gem is best priced with bet365. Sign up here and get £30 in free bets when you back this gem with £10.

This is a really attractive price for an angle I came back to throughout the 25/26 Premier League season. It shortened in price as the season went on, starting at around 2.0 but dropping down to 1.4 or even as low as we’re seeing here with some bookmakers having van Hecke as short as 1.25 to win a foul here.

Van Hecke is a true ball playing centre back, he’s brilliant at picking out passes between the lines and advancing play which is why Tottenham handed over a handsome sum to Brighton to secure his signature recently.

This is relevant because these traits give Van Hecke a lot of time on the ball. He averaged 85.2 touches per 90 for Brighton during the Premier League season, winning 43 fouls across just 36 starts (1.21 per 90). 

His touches increased quite dramatically across his two games for Netherlands during qualifying (123.8 per 90) and I expect him to be a target for an aggressive Sweden frontline which includes Viktor Gyokeres who can be quite clumsy with his challenges. 

Sweden committed 10 fouls in their opener against Tunisia, with Nygren, Isak and Gyokeres as the front three. This trio committed two of those fouls with Gyokeres (1.33 fouls per 90) and Nygren (1.71 fouls per 90) looking particularly aggressive during qualifying.

Sweden are likely to send quite a few long balls up to their front pairing and look to play in transition here, I think this scenario makes it likely that we see Van Hecke in a tangle with one of the forwards at least once.

Van Hecke was fouled in Netherlands’ opener against Japan, I think he’s at a nice price to draw a challenge at least once again here with this angle as low as 1.25 with other major bookmakers.