Netherlands National Football Team

Manager / Frank de Boer
Appointed / September 2020
Captain / Georginio Wijnaldum
Top Scorer in Euro 2020 Qualifiers / Georginio Wijnaldum, 8
Top Scorer in Squad (Domestic season 2020-21) / Memphis Depay, 20 (Lyon, Ligue 1)
Most Carded in qualifying / Marten de Roon, 3
Group / C, vs. Ukraine (13/06/2021), Austria (17/06/2021), North Macedonia (21/06/2021)

* All odds displayed correct at the time of publishing *

Netherlands Road to Euro 2020

The Dutch national team made it to the Euros fairly comfortably, finishing well clear of Northern Ireland in third and only two points behind group C winners Germany, banging in 24 goals over their eight games. They played some fantastic football and even got to the Nations League Final two years ago. The problem is that all of those achievements came under Ronald Koeman, now in charge of Barcelona. He’s since been replaced by Frank de Boer, a manager with a checkered history as a coach. The former Ajax and Crystal Palace coach has won just four of his ten games in charge, with the 2-1 victory over Poland the only result worth shouting about. He hasn’t changed all that much since Koeman’s departure but will have to do without his talismanic defender Virgil van Dijk.

Netherlands Euro 2020 Squad

The loss of van Dijk will be massive though there is more than enough quality to go some of the way to replacing the Liverpool centre half. There’s a lot of talent coursing through the squad, in fact, and the postponement of the tournament has probably done a lot of good for this side, barring the injury to van Dijk obviously. Frenkie de Jong and Matthijs de Ligt have recovered from poor debut seasons away from Ajax and Memphis Depay is far more match fit than he would’ve been had Euro 2020 taken place in, well, 2020.

Goalkeeper

This is The Netherland’s first major international tournament since the 2014 World Cup and two of the keepers from that squad had been called up for the Euros, Jasper Cillessen and Tim Krul, with Ajax veteran Maarten Stekelenburg filling the Dutch keeper quota. Though Jasper Cillessen, the nation’s first choice, has had to withdraw after catching coronavirus and was replaced by Marco Bizot. That does leave Norwich’s Krul as the most likely to start, which is far from ideal preparation despite his qualities. It may work as something of a blessing though, as Cillessen had featured just 10 times in La Liga for Valencia in the past season, whereas Krul was a regular as his side won the English Championship and earned promotion to the Premier League.

Defence

No doubt van Dijk is a huge blow and a player of his quality would be missed by any nation in the world, though perhaps the Dutch are better equipped to deal with such a loss than most. Juventus’ de Ligt is looking like the player the Italian giants shelled out £67 million pounds on. Stefan de Vrij of Serie A champions Inter will be capable of stepping up in van Dijk’s absence, with Nathan Ake and Daley Blind more than capable deputies if called upon. Blind will likely find himself starting at left-back which should give Denzel Dumfries every opportunity to push forward on the other side of the back four/five. Dumfries should provide the width for this Dutch side, yet he does have a penchant for a foul, especially on the bigger stages. He picked up four yellows in just eight Europa League games for PSV last season, averaging 2.2 fouls per 90, so could be one to keep an eye on when cards markets come out.

Midfield

The epicentre of de Boer’s side is similarly talented. Gini Wijnaldum, top scorer in qualifying and absolutely tearing it up for his national side, will be joined by Frenkie de Jong and one other in a midfield three. Narrowing down who exactly that third midfielder will be is far from easy, with some stellar names competing for just one spot. Atalanta’s Marten de Roon is probably the most likely to fill the last available spot, though Man United’s Donny van de Beek and Ajax’s Davy Klaasen have a chance.

Attack

The front three is probably the most difficult area of the park to predict for the Dutch. Depay will almost certainly start, where exactly is up for debate, with the Lyon man equally capable of winning games as a left winger or central striker. Donyell Malen, like Depay, would’ve missed the tournament had it gone ahead as originally planned, but the PSV striker has recovered from injury, recorded a fine individual campaign and could fill the spot Depay doesn’t, with the ex-Arsenal youngster similarly capable of playing on the left or through the middle. There was a campaign for the inclusion of Aston Villa forward Anwar El-Ghazi, yet that fell on deaf ears and could allow for Wout Weghorst or Steven Berguis to really nail down a place in de Boer’s starting XI.

Netherlands predicted line-up vs. Ukraine: Krul; Dumfries, de Ligt, de Vrij, Blind; de Jong, de Roon, Wijnaldum; Malen, Depay, Weghorst (4-3-3)

Netherlands Euro 2020 Betting Tips & Predictions

Topping this group would be massively advantageous for the Dutch’s chances of winning a second ever major tournament. Win their group and they’ll face the best ranked 3rd place team from one of Groups D, E or F, meaning there’s a good chance they’ll avoid the group of death teams (Group F- France, Portugal, Germany or Hungary) and more than likely face a relatively soft route to the semi-final.

I’m not wholly convinced by this Dutch squad, or rather their manager. He’s been sacked from each of his last three jobs, getting the boot from Inter, Palace and Atlanta and is yet to fill me with confidence in dealing with a talented squad. There are question marks over the attacking options, with only Depay the only truly world class option.

Facing North Macedonia means they’ll almost certainly get a minimum of three points, which makes a group stage exit highly unlikely. I would’ve fancied that very selection had they found themselves in a tougher group. At 2.2, I like their stage of elimination to be the Round of 16, as even if they top Group C, I wouldn’t altogether be shocked to see them go out against one of the third-placed teams, especially if they come from Group F.

They play all three of their group games in Amsterdam (though no fans) but in their opening tie they host a determined and well-coached Ukraine side, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see them drop points. Ukraine DNB (4.8) looks very inviting if you share my suspicion at the abilities of de Boer.

Predicted stage of elimination: Round of 16

How to watch Netherlands v Austria in Euro 2020

📅   When / Thursday, 17 June 2021, 20:00 BST
🏟   Where / Johan Cruijff Arena (Amsterdam)
📺   TV / BBC One, ZDF
📱   Online streaming / bet365