The Netherlands are looking to secure their third consecutive win in UEFA Euro 2020 Qualifying Group C when they host Northern Ireland at De Kuip Stadium in Rotterdam on Thursday. The two teams have last met in a friendly match in 2012, which the Netherlands won 6-0. Before that, they have only met four times in the 60s and 70s, and the record shows one win apiece and two draws.
It finally seems that the Dutch national team has found a way towards restoring its former glory, last month they secured spectacular back-to-back wins to get their qualification campaign back on track. First they grabbed a fine 4-2 victory in Germany and then won 4-0 in Estonia three days later to recover from the 3-2 home win they had suffered against Germany earlier this year. Now the Dutch are three points behind Germany and Northern Ireland in Group C, but they have a game in hand. The Netherlands have failed to qualify for the 2016 edition of the European Championship and they also failed to qualify for the 2018 World Cup.
Northern Ireland are trying to reach their second consecutive final tournament at the European Championship after having missed the first fourteen editions of the event. Their first participation, in 2016, was not that bad either, they managed to beat Ukraine 2-0 and lost 1-0 against Poland and Germany. In this qualifying campaign they started with four consecutive wins against group minnows Belarus and Estonia, but then lost 2-0 at home against Germany. Tuesday's match will prove if Michael O'Neill's men have what it takes to fight for qualification.
Probable line-ups:
Netherlands: Cillessen - Veltman, De Ligt, Van Dijk, Blind - Wijnaldum, De Jong, De Roon - Malen, Depay, Babel
N. Ireland: Peacock-Farrell - Dallas, Cathcart, J. Evans, Lewis - C. Evans, Saville, Davis, McNair, McGinn - Washington
My prediction:
The Dutch are looking solid under head coach Ronald Koeman and I don't see how they would miss the three points here. I think the Netherlands will win 2-0.
Here are the odds for the match at NetBet:
Netherlands win - 1.17
Draw - 7.00
N. Ireland win - 17.00
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