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The top two sides in Group B meet on Friday night as the Netherlands host France in a European Championship qualifier. The game kicks off at 7:45pm UK time and takes place at the Johan Cruyff Arena in Amsterdam
Netherlands
The Netherlands head into this fixture amidst an injury crisis. Ronald Koeman’s side sit joint-second in Group B behind Friday’s rivals although they do have a game in hand on Les Bleus. Although they are level on points with Greece, they also have a superior head-to-head record which would be good enough to send them through.
Match has ended
Although Koeman believes that his side have enough to get a result in this fixture, he admits that he is prioritising the match against the Greeks. With a whole host of absentees to deal with, it’s isn’t a surprise to hear that the former Southampton and Barcelona boss is dampening expectations ahead of this clash in the Dutch capital.
In-form Teun Koopmeiners is the latest player to drop out of the squad and has been joined by Steven Berghuis. The pair will not be available for either game across this international break and with Sven Botman, Memphis Depay, Cody Gakpo, Frankie de Jong, Noa Lang and Matthijs de Ligt also missing, Koeman’s options are severely limited.
Ian Maatsen and Calvin Stengs are amongst the replacements that have been called up to the squad.
The hosts have a pretty good record on their own patch and they have already swatted aside both Greece and Gibraltar in this group, but this is a significant step up.
France
Although they cannot compete with the Netherlands when it comes to injuries, France do have a few personnel issues to deal with. Didier Deschamps is missing a few defenders and a reshuffle at the back will be required ahead of Friday night.
Les Bleus will be without Jules Kounde, Dayot Upemecano and William Saliba whilst Axel Disasi has also pulled out of the squad. Deschamps looks set to name a makeshift back-line which includes Lucas Hernandez and Ibrahima Konate as centre-backs.
Although it is far from ideal, the French can still call upon an embarrassment of riches including Kylian Mbappe, who will be determined to end his uncharacteristically barren spell in front of goal.
France sit top of Group B and with a home game against Gibraltar scheduled for November, they are unlikely to surrender top spot. However, they cannot afford any complacency with the Netherlands having a game in hand on the leaders (away vs Greece on Monday).
They may have lost an international friendly against Germany last time out, yet they’re unbeaten in their qualifiers so far and are yet to concede a goal in Group B. They were truly dominant in the reverse fixture and found themselves 2-0 up inside the opening ten minutes.
Head to Head
As we’ve previously mentioned, France easily swept aside this opposition when they met back in March. France were in complete control before Kylian Mbappe added a second half brace.
Although France have won five of the last six meetings between these two sides, the Netherlands were victorious in the Nations League back in 2018. That game was staged in Rotterdam.
France were victorious on their last visit to the Johan Cruyff Arena, winning 1-0 in a World Cup Qualifier back in 2016.
Key Betting Stats
- Netherland’s first four Euro Qualifiers have contained a total of 13 goals
- The Netherlands lost just one of the games during the previous Euro qualifying campaign
- Only two of France’s five qualifiers so far have featured three or more goals
- France dropped just five points during their last qualifying campaign (both vs Turkey)
- France have been in front at the break in six of their previous seven encounters with the Netherlands
- Kylian Mbappe has scored four times and claimed two assists during the qualifying campaign. He’s also averaging 4.8 shots per game.
Match Prediction
Even without the injuries, I may have been edging towards backing France in this contest. Nevertheless, the hosts are short on numbers and it appears as though their focus may be diverting toward’s Monday’s clash with Greece. France should have too much going forward.
Winning Combo
France to Win and Over 1.5 Goals
Odds – 12/5 with Bet365
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