The Netherlands, once a European football powerhouse, are not quite the same team they were, but they can still cause a lot of problems at the European Championships this summer.
We have them at 12/1 to win Euro 2020, which makes them our eighth favourites and that seems about fair. The really interesting markets for this team will be the matchday ones, and their point of elimination. The quarter-final at 11/4 looks interesting, considering the players at their disposal. They’re going to have home advantage in Amsterdam for all three of their group games against Ukraine, Austria and North Macedonia, which will play a huge factor in those already very favourable fixtures.
Key Players
Frank de Boer will need to get the best out of a squad with some incredible players, who are used to very different systems at club level. There’s next to no similarities between what Donny van de Beek will be used to at Old Trafford and Quincy Promes in Moscow or Donyell Malen at PSV. He’ll need this group to gel at the right time, and they’ll have to do it without star player Virgil van Dijk, who pulled out with an injury in May. He will be around the squad for the tournament, with de Boer defending the decision to keep the Liverpool defender involved by saying: “Virgil is so important for this squad and is a massive motivational factor who has always been important for the boys over the past few years. The team loves his presence.”
Without him, they’ll be reliant on Daley Blind and Frankie de Jong to pull the strings, as well as performances worthy of their club pedigree from Georginio Wijnaldum and Memphis Depay, which shouldn’t be too hard to get out given the circumstances with the 12,000-person minimum crowds in the Johan Cryuff Stadium in the Dutch capital.
The Group Games
First off, they’ll face Ukraine on June 13th. A formidable test, the Ukrainian team will be fully confident of their ability to pull off an upset, even if it means playing an ugly game and getting a draw. It’d be a big upset if Ukraine managed to cash out on their 21/4 underdog tag, and at 5/8 we’re confident in this Dutch side’s ability to get the job done against this level of opposition. It actually wouldn’t be the worst addition to a treble, if you got the other two results right and were a bit more ambitious elsewhere.
Austria on June 16th will without a doubt be the toughest game of the Netherlands’ path to the knockout stages. They’ve got some legitimately world class players like David Alaba who recently signed for Real Madrid, and they put some great results up in qualification. This will need to be a free-flowing passing showcase from the Dutch, reminiscent of the days of old. There are weaknesses to exploit here, and we’ve got Austria priced as gigantic 5/1 underdogs in this one. We actually fancy the draw at 3/1 in this one, which likely won’t prove costly given their next game.
They will finish the campaign against North Macedonia on June 21st. The underdogs are priced at a gigantic 13/1 to cause what would be one of the great Euros upsets, and while we’d love to be able to recommend it, it’s hard to imagine and we couldn’t in good conscience tell you it’s probable. Likely handy win to send the Netherlands through here, and they could very well top the group and win all three games.
Netherlands Squad for Euro 2020:
Goalkeepers: Marco Bizot (AZ Alkmaar), Tim Krul (Norwich City/ENG), Maarten Stekelenburg (Ajax)
Defenders: Daley Blind (Ajax) Matthijs de Ligt (Juventus/ITA), Joel Veltman (Brighton and Hove Albion/ENG), Denzel Dumfries (PSV Eindhoven), Stefan de Vrij (Inter Milan/ITA), Nathan Ake (Manchester City/ENG), Owen Wijndal (AZ Alkmaar), Jurrien Timber (Ajax), Patrick van Aanholt (Crystal Palace/ENG)
Midfielders: Donny van de Beek (Manchester United/ENG), Ryan Gravenberch (Ajax), Davy Klaassen (Ajax), Frenkie de Jong (Barcelona/ESP), Marten de Roon (Atalanta/ITA), Teun Koopmeiners (AZ Alkmaar), Georginio Wijnaldum (Liverpool/ENG)
Forwards: Steven Berghuis (Feyenoord), Cody Gakpo (PSV Eindhoven), Luuk de Jong (Sevilla/ESP), Donyell Malen (PSV Eindhoven), Memphis Depay (Lyon/FRA), Wout Weghorst (VfL Wolfsburg/GER), Quincy Promes (Spartak Moscow/RUS)
