With the talismanic Sadio Mane ruled out of the World Cup, Senegal face an uphill battle in their opener against a Dutch side who many see as tournament dark horses.
The second Group A game sees Senegal take on the Netherlands at the Al Thumama Stadium on Monday.
The Dutch will arrive as group winners of their qualifying stage, whilst the Teranga Lions are sure to take great confidence from their African Cup of Nations success.
Both teams are in the top 20 of the FIFA World Rankings and have lofty tournament expectations.
To Win Match
Senegal 5/1 | Draw 28/10 | Netherlands 6/10
Senegal
Senegal finished top of their qualifying group, winning five and drawing one of their six games before beating Egypt on penalties for the second time in 2022 to earn their place in Qatar.
This will mark only the third time that they have qualified for the World Cup, most recently exiting in the group stages of the 2018 tournament. Still, the Teranga Lions enter the competition on a high after winning the Africa Cup of Nations earlier this year.
No African side has ever made it past the quarter-final stage of the World Cup, but Aliou Cisse’s side can be the ones to make history for the second time this year.
Senegal boast a formidable squad, with Chelsea’s Edouard Mendy and Kalidou Koulibaly, but the injury to their talisman Sadio Mane is a hammer blow. The Teranga Lions’ chances of a deep run in the tournament are slim without him.
The Netherlands
The last time the Dutch national team played at a FIFA World Cup, they finished third after beating hosts Brazil in 2014, four years after having played in the 2010 World Cup final. The Oranje powered their way to Qatar 2022 after finishing top of a difficult qualifying group that contained Turkey and Erling Haaland’s Norway.
The Dutch are, undisputedly, the best national team never to have won the World Cup, but after getting to the semi-finals the last two times they took part in the competition, Louis Van Gaal’s side will be hoping third time’s a charm.
Liverpool star Virgil van Dijk continues to marshal the defence as team captain alongside Matthijs de Ligt of Bayern Munich, while the Barcelona pair of Frenkie de Jong and Memphis Depay are key figures further up the pitch. There’s Valencia’s Justin Kluivert as well.
Verdict: Under 2.5 Goals 7/10
This is the first time both sides will be facing each other, and it will be a battle of the likely top two teams in Group A, which is why this is such an important game. I suspect we’re in for a cagey affair here which makes the Totals – Under 2.5 Goals – market a rather attractive prospect at 7/10.
