This will be the fourth and final match that will effectively close the quarter-finals of this Club World Cup. At this point in the competition, no one really wants to go home after spending a month in the United States, in absurd temperatures, playing matches that are decidedly less important than this one.
So, between Real Madrid and Borussia Dortmund, we expect a no-holds-barred match, a real challenge between two teams that want to go all the way. This match will be refereed by Brazilian Abatti, who has handed out 509 yellow cards in 109 appearances in the Brazilian league. That’s a significant average. Meanwhile, in this Club World Cup, he has refereed twice, issuing two more yellow cards. That’s one per game on average. However, in this article, we are mainly interested in whether he calls fouls. And if he pulls out the yellow card, that’s fine too. That said, let’s take a look at our picks.
Real Madrid vs. Borussia Dortmund predictions: our picks
Let’s start with the Madrid side: as mentioned in the article on scorers and shots on goal, Real Madrid still needs to find the right balance at the back. Therefore, either Rudiger or Huijsen could find themselves out of position. We’re going with the young Spanish defender, who made three tackles against the Bianconeri. However, Dortmund’s attack is not the same as Juve’s: they have quality and speed. So yes, he could at least commit a couple of fouls.
He didn’t do very well against Juve, we saw that. He’s not in the best possible physical condition after a very long season that has caused him to lose his sharpness. And Vinicius, with Mbappé back, will have to focus on setting up his teammate to score. So, a lot of sacrifice on the left wing. Beyond that, of course, there are his numbers for the season in terms of cards, which are really important and have been confirmed in this World Cup: four appearances, one yellow card. He shouldn’t get a card, but he could commit at least two fouls. Let’s now take a look at our picks for Borussia Dortmund. The first name is Ryerson, a defensive winger who plays wide in the four-man midfield that Kovac sets up every match. He is a player who will presumably have to face Bellingham or Vinicius. So he is obviously at risk. Finally, we close with Bensebaini: yellow cards at will and fouls at will. So far in these World Cup matches, he has almost always ‘hit the target’, i.e. committing at least two fouls.