Netherlands vs Scotland Prediction & Betting Tips - International Friendlies

Prediction published on 30/05/2021, 22:20  by Daniel Ngulu | Modified on 30/05/2021 at 22:21 in Football Predictions

Scotland needed to go through playoffs to secure their slot for Euro 2020 and their recent run hasn’t been the best but they start their preparations against one of the best teams around – the Netherlands. This match will be hosted in Portugal, and as both teams return to major competition after lengthy absences, top preparations are the target. Netherlands are coming from comfortable wins over Latvia and Gibraltar, which were expected, especially after losing 4-2 to Turkey earlier. They missed Euro 2016 as well as the 2018 World Cup and getting to the Euro 2020 finals is a mark of the improvement injected in the Dutch team. The four wins they’ve managed in the last five matches are all they have in 10, and they have three losses in that run. They’ve however managed to score two or more in each of their last five matches but they still looked short in defence, with their only clean sheets in the last seven matches coming against low ranking Latvia and Gibraltar. Missing Virgil van Dijk, who is injured will not help matters defensively but Mattijs de Ligt and Stefan de Vrij should be able to forge a good defensive partnership. In the last meeting between these two nations, in 2017, Memphis Depay scored the winner in a 1-0 victory. The Lyon forward stands out as the most capped forward in the confirmed 26 players and will fancy his chances here.

Wins on post match penalties over Serbia and Israel saw Scotland book their Euro ticket, returning to top competition for the first time since the World Cup in France in 1998. They don’t have a very impressive run going to this game, with just a win in their last five and only four outright wins in the last 11 games. The 4-0 win over Faroe Islands also serves Scotland’s only clean sheet in the last six matches and signals a lot of needed improvement in the team. They go to this game with a rather poor run against Netherlands, having lost in each of their last four meetings with the Dutch and they’ve also failed to score in the four losses. As they look to address a clear problem in both goal scoring and defence, Scotland will miss the services of Sheffield United forward Oli McBurnie who is injured but Leeds defender Liam Cooper returns while Arsenal’s Kieran Tierney is expected to beat the injury woes that have highlighted his season. Liverpool’s Andy Robertson, Manchester United’s Scott McTominay, Aston Villa’s John McGinn and Southampton’s Che Adams should offer Scotland some edge against the Dutch.