The Netherlands national team are desperate to reach a major final tournament after having missed out on the last two, but they will have to get through a very difficult test on Saturday, when they visit Northern Ireland at Windsor Park in Belfast in a match that should decide which of the two teams will qualify from UEFA Euro 2020 Qualifying Group C. The Dutch won the reverse fixture 3-1 in October, and that was their third consecutive win over Northern Ireland in all competitions.
Northern Ireland are looking to reach their second consecutive final tournament of the European Championship, in 2016 they even managed to reach the round of sixteen. Now they need a big result against Netherlands to qualify, they are trailing Germany and Holland by three points with two games left in the campaign. Moreover, Northern Ireland would then need another major result in the last match of the campaig as they visit Germany on Tuesday.
Netherlands will have an easier task in their last group match on Tuesday, they will take on Estonia at home and should be able to get the three points quite easily. Considering that fixture, Ronald Koeman's men should be happy with a draw in Belfast, even though that could mean surrendering the top spot in the group table to Germany, who play Belarus on Saturday. Goalkeeper Kenneth Vermeer was taken out of the squad due to an injury, but he wouldn't have played anyway as Jasper Cillessen remains the number one choice.
Probable line-ups:
N. Ireland: Peacock-Farrell - Smith, Cathcart, J. Evans, Lewis - C. Evans, Saville, Davis, McNair, McGinn - Lafferty
Netherlands: Cillessen - Veltman, De Ligt, Van Dijk, Blind - Wijnaldum, De Jong, De Roon - Bergwijn, Depay, Babel
My prediction:
Northern Ireland will surely give everything they've got in this match, but the Dutch are superior and I believe they will be able to win 2-1.
Here are the odds for the match at NetBet:
N. Ireland win - 6.75
Draw - 4.60
Netherlands win - 1.44
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