Holland-Gibraltar is a match from the second day of Group B of Euro 2024 qualifiers and is played on Monday at 20:45: TV, predictions.
Ronald Koeman’s second stint on the Netherlands bench started in the worst way. In the first qualifying match of Euro 2024, the Oranje were swept aside by Mbappé’s France, who did their best at the Stade de France, opening their path to the European Championship in Germany with a crushing 4-0 that immediately defined the hierarchy within Group B.
The former Barcelona coach, however, has numerous extenuating circumstances. In the hours before the match in Paris, in fact, an intestinal virus knocked out several players in the Dutch selection, including two starters such as Liverpool striker Gakpo and former Juventus man de Ligt, now at Bayern Munich. Koeman stated in an interview that he did not want to find excuses to justify a poor performance, but it was not easy to face what is one of the strongest national teams on the planet without some key men. Nothing, however, is compromised in terms of qualification: the Netherlands will only need to finish second to go to the European Championship, and that should not be a problem given that, in addition to France, there are teams in this group such as Ireland, Greece and Gibraltar who are within reach.
Holland, another goleada in Gibraltar?
Three points are imperative against the least competitive team in the group, who were swept 3-0 by Greece in their opener.
Ribas
The Netherlands meet Gibraltar again after the last World Cup qualifiers: the two matches, both played in 2021, ended 7-0 and 6-0 for the Oranje, who scored a total of thirteen goals without conceding any. Since then, the young selection from the United Kingdom’s overseas territory has made little progress, bearing in mind that they have not won an official match since 2020 and have only beaten the likes of Andorra and Liechtenstein in friendly matches. Koeman will not be able to count on Gakpo and de Ligt, who are unavailable, but there will be several changes compared to France: Dumfries is back from disqualification and on the opposite side, in defence, Blind will be back. In the offensive trident the coach should field Weghorst with Depay and Malen.
The prediction
The Netherlands need to bounce back from their disappointing defeat in France and should give lowly Gibraltar a thumping, scoring no less than five goals.
The Netherlands v Gibraltar line-up in the Netherlands
- LAND (4-3-3): Cillessen; Dumfries, Aké, van Dijk, Blind; Wijnaldum, de Roon, Klaassen; Memphis, Weghorst, Malen.
- GIBILTERRA (4-4-2): Coleing; Sergeant, R. Chipolina, Lopes, Olivero; Valarino, Torrilla, Ronan, Britto; Walker, Casciaro.
POSSIBLE RESULT: 6-0
