The Netherlands take on Czech Republic in Budapest on Sunday in the Euro 2020 last 16 stage.
The Oranje are in fine spirits after a perfect group stage, but they know they’ll be in for a tough battle against the Group D third-place finishers.
Euro 2020 Round of 16
Sunday 27 July
Puskas Arena (Budapest)
To Win (90 min)
Netherlands 13/20
Draw 28/10
Czech Republic 4/1
To Qualify
Netherlands 3/10
Czech Republic 43/20
Netherlands
There were many doubts surrounding the Netherlands coming into this tournament, especially with Virgil Van Dijk out. But the Oranje have turned out to be one of the most impressive sides in the competition, scoring the most goals (8) while they’ve kept back-to-back clean sheets.
Frank de Boer’s side eased through Group C, winning all three games at Amsterdam’s Johan Cruijff ArenA. They had to survive a few scares when edging out Ukraine 3-2 in their opening game, but brushed aside Austria and North Macedonia – with 2-0 and 3-0 wins respectively. The Dutch are one of just three teams in this tournament with nine points in the group stage.
Georginio Wijnaldum and Memphis Depay have been the star players with five goals between them. Wijnaldum has led by example from the heart of the Netherlands’ midfield, while Depay is living up to expectations in the final third. Denzel Dumfries is also having a brilliant tournament so far.
Luuk de Jong has been ruled out of the remainder of the tournament after suffering a knee injury in training. But De Boer seems to have faith in Wout Weghorst doing the business up front. He’s second-favourite behind Depay (13/10) as an Anytime Goalscorer in the match at 37/20.
Czech Republic
The odds are stacked against Czech Republic emerging victorious in Budapest. But Jaroslav Silhavy’s side will fancy their chances of beating the Oranje as they look to emulate the side of 2012 who reached the quarter-finals.
The Locomotive finished third in their group on four points. They defeated Scotland 2-0 before a 1-1 draw with Croatia and then ended the group with a 1-0 defeat in England.
Their talisman Patrik Schick has netted three goals in this tournament and will be looking to capitalize on any mistakes the Dutch defence offer up. He’s 31/10 in the Anytime Goalscorer market for this fixture.
Schick, along with Tomas Soucek and Vladimir Coufal will be a handful for De Boer’s side. However, the Czechs will be without key defender Jan Boril, who picked up his second yellow card in the England game and is thus suspended. Ales Mateju may deputise.
The Czech Republic have won five of their 11 matches against the Dutch (D3 L3), including two straight wins in Euro 2016 qualifying. They’ll look to use that as motivation and upset the odds.
Prediction: Netherlands Win & Both Teams to Score (26/10)
The Dutch have proven performers in key areas and should prove too classy for the Czechs. However, they are prone to the odd lapse in concentration at the back, especially with Van Dijk missing. I’m going with Netherlands to Win & Both Teams to Score at 26/10.
