The time has come for the United States' round of 16 match against the Netherlands at the 2022 World Cup.
What better way to celebrate the occasion than to get some action down on the Stars and Stripes. The question is, what is the best way to do that?
Our team of soccer experts have come up with the best angles on the USMNT, including props, alternate lines and more.
Read on for our USA vs. Netherlands best bets.
USA vs. Netherlands Best Bets
USA to Advance (+182 via FanDuel)
BJ Cunningham: You saw how difficult the United States were to break down defensively against England.
Out of possession, the reason the United States are very difficult to break down is because they have one of the highest aerial duals won percentages and ball recoveries per 90 minutes in the World Cup field. Their 4-3-3 out of possession will sometimes become a 4-4-2 or a 4-2-3-1 with players always rotating to drop deep or press up, causing a lot of confusion for the opponents.
The United States did such a good job against England using their “passive pressing,” where the front two forwards didn’t press the opposing center backs and took away easy passes to Declan Rice, which forced John Stones and Harry Maguire to make risker passes to midfielders.
They will likely have to do the same thing against the Netherlands and take away the easy passes to Frenkie de Jong, who is the conductor of the Dutch midfield. If he is not able to get on the ball, control the tempo and progress the Dutch forward, the Netherlands will have the same problems creating chances that England did.
The Netherlands have not looked impressive whatsoever this tournament, particularly offensively. They created just 0.70 xG against Senegal despite scoring two goals and then took just two shots with five penalty box touches against Ecuador.
America is absolutely live to advance to the quarterfinals at +182.
Michael Leboff: It's no coincidence that the USMNT's best performance in the World Cup came in a nil-nil draw against England. Despite being by far the strongest opponent that the Yanks have played, Team USA looked more comfortable in their tilt with the Three Lions than they did with the less talented but more defensive Wales and Iran.
When you think about it from a stylistic standpoint, it makes some sense that the USMNT put together their best 90-minute showing against England. The Yanks are a quick, athletic team that can make life miserable on opposing teams when they have the ball. That's how the England match played out, as the midfield trio of Yunus Musah, Adams and Weston McKennie dominated the match and completely muted the England midfield.
We could see a similar pattern play out against the Netherlands. Clockwork Oranje will want to have the ball and rely on their midfield – which is talented but worse than England's – to control the tempo of the match.
But that won't be easy against Musah, Adams and McKennie, who frankly have been better than what we've seen out of the Netherlands in the middle of the park so far.
In fact, save for Cody Gakpo, you could say that Clockwork Oranje have underwhelmed compared to their pre-tournament expectations.
Despite playing in a soft group, the Netherlands posted a +4 goal differential while their xG difference was -0.4 prior to their match against Qatar.
The Dutch are there for the taking and the USMNT are a dangerous, live underdog on Saturday morning.
Pick: USA (+182) to Advance |
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USA 1st Half +0.25 (-123 via BetMGM)
Brett Pund: If you look at when the United States have been at their best at this World Cup, it has been in the opening half of games. They scored both of their goals in this competition in the first halves against Wales and Iran.
I have not been the biggest fan of manager Gregg Berhalter over the years, but he deserves a lot of the credit for having this young American squad prepared and set up perfectly at the start of the group stage matches.
However, this is not something that is new for Berhalter’s team. In the 14 games during World Cup Qualifying, the US only trailed at halftime in two of those fixtures.
Meanwhile, the Dutch have scored three of their five goals in this competition in the second half. This is also the same nation that registered 21-of-33 goals (64%) in WCQ after halftime.
If you think the United States are going to be competitive in this elimination game, the team must avoid falling behind early, and this team will be ready to go from the jump.
Timothy Weah Over 0.5 Shots on Target (+140 via DraftKings)
Johnathan Wright: Timothy Weah has been one of the standout players for the USA so far in this World Cup. He scored one of the USMNT's two goals during group play and is a constant threat on the right side of the pitch due to his ball skills, pace and ability to make decisive runs between and behind defenders.
While the Netherlands gave up just one goal in their three group-stage matches, they allowed a whopping 30 shots. Of those 30 shots, 10 were on target (33%). Moreover, 25 of the 30 shots the Oranje allowed came from the center or right side of the pitch, which is the side Weah plays on.
With Pulisic being day-to-day due to an abdominal injury, Weah will see an even greater attacking workload on his side. Hopefully, he does enough to find the back of the net, but a shot on target would be enough for us to cash at plus-money odds here.
