Netherlands vs England 07/06/19

7 June 2019

The Netherlands and England go head-to-head for their massive UEFA Nations League semi-final tie at the Estádio D. Afonso Henriques in Guimarães, Portugal.

Eager to battle their way back to the top of European football, Ronald Koeman’s players will try to bounce back after a 3-2 loss to Germany last time out. Although Oranje started their UEFA Nations League campaign off on the wrong foot, sustaining a 2-1 away loss to France, they’ve still managed to seal the top spot in Group A/1, securing two wins and playing out a draw in the remaining three group stage outings. They have scored eight and conceded four goals in seeing off France and Germany, with three of four of their games in the competitions producing over 2.5 goals. The Netherlands’ free-scoring form has seen them net 2+ match goals in five of their last six matches. However, a potential worry for Koeman could be that his players have struggled to keep a clean sheet in seven of their last ten outings, allowing over 1.5 match goals three times though.

After the World Cup success, Gareth Southgate has managed to keep his team on the right track, with England enjoying a nice ride in both UEFA Nations League and Euro qualifiers. In spite of a slow start to their UEFA Nations League campaign (D1, L1), the Three Lions have finished top of Group A/4 after clinching two tight wins over Spain and Croatia. England head into this meeting as slight favorites and have plenty to hope for considering their recent form. They have racked up a five-game winning streak ahead of this fixture, scoring over 2.5 match goals four times across those games. A 2-1 loss to Spain back in September 2018 aside, England boast an almost perfect record in the past ten months (W6, D1, L1), with six of those matches featuring over 2.5 goals.