Ireland-Holland is a match on the sixth day of Group B of Euro 2024 qualifiers and is played Sunday at 8:45 p.m.: predictions.
In Group B, only the second place is left to be awarded as France has already booked the first by winning all five first matches and remaining on full points.
Who will keep the vice world champions company? The number one favorite is still the Netherlands, which immediately reeled in Greece in the standings last Thursday, overwhelming them 3-0 at the Philips Stadion in Eindhoven. It was a one-sided match, filed after 40 minutes of play thanks to goals from de Roon, Gakpo and Weghorst. Ronald Koeman can smile: on the former Barcelona coach, in his second experience as technical commissioner, the first criticism had rained down after the clear defeat on the debut against France (4-0) and a Nations League in which the Netherlands finished in last place in the Final Four organized between Rotterdam and Enschede.
Van Dijk and his teammates are now second in the qualifying group for Euro 2024, tied on points with Greece (6), but compared to the Hellenes they have played one less game.
Bazunu and McClean vs. France
Duel that for the time being does not seem to involve Ireland, which in four games was able to get the better of only cinderella Gibraltar. Stephen Kenny’s national team has shown its limits against France (twice) and Greece: good organization of the game – on Thursday it avoided a boarding in Paris, staying in the game at least for a time – but at the same time when there is to build the difficulties are evident. In the Netherlands Kenny will have to do without Keane and Stevens, who were injured in France, absences that add to that of Brighton’s little Brighton jewel Ferguson. One change instead for Koeman, with de Vrij taking Aké’s place in defense.
The prediction
Since the beginning of the new millennium, the Netherlands has only managed to get the better of Ireland on one occasion, although the last previous one was in 2016 (a friendly). The Boys in Green always have an edge when they play in front of their home crowd, where last March they put France itself in serious difficulty, getting the better of them 0-1. We expect a similar script against the Netherlands: it will obviously be the Oranje who will be the match, given the wide gap between the two selections. Koeman’s men appeared inspired against Greece and their success is likely to be by a narrow margin.
The likely lineups for Ireland-Holland
- IRLAND (3-4-3): Bazunu; Collins, Egan, Duffy; Browne, Cullen, Molumby, McClean; Ogbene, Idah, Knight.
- OLAND (3-4-2-1): Flekken; Geertruida, de Vrij, van Dijk; Dumfries, de Roon, de Jong, Blind; Simons, Gakpo; Weghorst.
POSSIBLE RESULT: 0-1
