Joey Tron

I am taking Colombia -1 here against DR Congo in this match up. Colombia coming away with a 2+ goal win would all but secure them winning the group, and that is their goal in this one. Colombia are the better side and already showed their attacking ceiling in the group opener, beating Uzbekistan 3-1, while Luis Díaz had a goal and an assist and gives Colombia the clearest game-breaking wide threat in this matchup. DR Congo deserve respect after drawing 1-1 with Portugal, but was that their shining moment of this tournament? Colombia has a much more potent scoring threat, Díaz can win isolated wide matchups, James Rodríguez can create from central pockets, Jhon Arias gives them another ball-carrier, and their fullbacks can stretch DR Congo’s back five. That matters because DR Congo are likely to sit in a compact 5-3-2, keep two forwards high, and look to counter which will tire them out over the 90 mins. At worse we push but Colombia should open this up in the second half. Take Colombia -1 here. —Joey Tron

I am taking the Aces on the ML here against the Liberty. This is set to be a great match up with the home team having the significant edge here. Las Vegas has the cleaner overall profile for this spot: they are at home, they have the best individual matchup piece in A’ja Wilson, and their offense has been more stable because they take better care of the ball. The Aces’ lower turnover rate matters a lot against a Liberty team that can punish mistakes quickly with three-point shooting and transition scoring. New York is absolutely dangerous here because they have the perimeter shooting, free-throw edge, and star power to win outright, so I do not see this as a spot to lay a spread aggressively. However, the Liberty’s recent two-game skid and slightly shakier possession profile on the road can be costly, like we saw in the 2nd half against the Sparks. The Aces have the more reliable late-game scoring option through Wilson, while Jackie Young and the rest of the backcourt give them enough creation to answer New York’s runs plus Michelob ULTRA Arena will be identical to playoff atmosphere giving the home team an even bigger boost. Take the Aces ML here. —Joey Tron