Netherlands vs Ireland. Prediction and Preview. Probable Lineups, Team News, Stats, and more

Netherlands will host Ireland in the UEFA EURO 2024 Group B 9th qualification round match at the Johan Cruijff Arena in Amsterdam. The fixture will take place on Sunday, November 19, beginning at 01:15 IST.

Parimatch News will tell you everything you need to know ahead of the upcoming match.

Netherlands News & Current Form: 

Before the final two rounds of the group stage of selection for Euro 2024, the Netherlands are second in Group B with 12 points. The Greeks from the third place have the same number of points, but the European champions of 2004, first of all, have already played an extra game and they have only a match against France left, and secondly, they lost both head-to-head meetings against the Oranje. 

So officially the team of Ronald Koeman has not qualified for the Euros yet, but de facto it can already be congratulated on reaching the final part of the continental forum in Germany. 

Now the Netherlands need to win at least one match out of the two remaining, and in the last round of selection they just have a game with the outsider of the group, with the national team of Gibraltar, and three points for the victory can be safely added to the existing assets.

In general, Koeman’s team held the selection quite stable and predictable: weaker opponents in the form of Greece, Ireland and Gibraltar defeated, but lost to the star team of France. 

Nathan Ake, one of the top scorers of the Dutch team, will miss the rest of qualifying matches due to an injury

Moreover, the Netherlands lost to the French first in Paris (4:0). The intrigue was killed already by the 21st minute – after goals from Antoine Griezmann, Dayot Upamecano and Kylian Mbappe. The Paris Saint-Germain striker netted a double in the 88th minute, and in the fifth compensated minute Memphis Depay had a chance to improve his side’s fortunes, but the goalkeeper dragged down a penalty kick.

And then in Amsterdam with a less disastrous score of 1:2, the victory for the Tricoloured was earned by a double from Mbappe, who quite easily passed the defense led by the experienced Virgil van Dijk. Ronald Koeman failed to take effective measures to contain the PSG striker. Only at the end of the game the hosts narrowed the gap in the score through the efforts of Quilindschy Hartman.

In October, the Oranje played two qualifying matches. In the first, already mentioned above, lost to France, and in the second minimally defeated Greece 1:0 in Athens, the decisive goal was scored by van Dijk from the penalty spot in extra time.

The Netherlands cannot boast a very bright generation, but at the same time they have enough talented players. In the course of the qualifying cycle, the hosts managed to score ten goals and conceded seven goals. 

The top scorers of the national team are Nathan Ake, Wout Weghorst and Cody Gakpo, they all scored two goals each. The leader in goal assists is winger for FC Inter Milan Denzel Dumfries, the player distinguished himself with five assists.

Surprisingly, the Netherlands head coach continues to ignore Liverpool FC midfielder Ryan Gravenberch. The mentor did not call up the talented player for the November matches. It is very likely that Koeman has not forgiven him for his decision to refuse a call-up to the youth national team.

As a reminder, in the semifinals of the UEFA Nations League, the Dutch lost to Croatia (2:4 extra time), and in an encounter for third place they lost to Italy, which had lost stability (2:3). And this despite the fact that in both cases they played at their home stadium. It seems that the support of the home stands will not help the team this time.

Nathan Ake has been left out of the Netherlands squad for the final two European Championship qualifiers against Ireland and Gibraltar due to injury. The Manchester City player is the latest defender to join the Dutch injury list, with Sven Botman, Matthijs de Ligt, Jurrien Timber and Micky van de Ven also absent from the qualifiers as the Netherlands look to secure a place in next year’s finals in Germany.

Ireland News & Current Form: 

The Irish national team is a rare participant in major international tournaments. After the selection draw for Euro 2024, it was immediately clear that the Boys in Green would find it incredibly difficult to qualify for the final part of the competition, as they had the French and the Dutch in their group, who are incredibly hard to beat. In reality, that’s exactly what is happening. 

After seven matches, the Irish national team is in fourth, penultimate place in the group – only Gibraltar are lower. The Green Army managed to get only two wins during the qualifying cycle, precisely against the outsider.

These teams met in the last round of the competition and the game ended with a score of 4:0. In the first half Evan Ferguson from Brighton & Hove Albion FC and Mikey Johnston scored a goal each, and in the second half Matt Doherty and Callum Robinson added a couple more.

Stephen Kenny’s team lost the other five matches. Albeit minimally or only by two goals: to the French 0:1 and 0:2, the Netherlands 1:2, the Greeks 1:2 and 0:2, but this fact hardly pleases the fans of the Irish national team. After all, Kenny’s team almost did not score in these duels – only two goals in five matches.

Guests are going through difficult times in terms of selection of performers, the current generation of Irishmen is not so strong to fight with more established and stable opponents. In addition, the current version of the Irish national team tends to play football, focusing more on attack.

The team’s top scorers are Johnston, Adam Idah, and Ferguson, who have scored two goals each. Jamie McGrath and James McClean lead the list of the best assistants, they have two assists each.

Leading the team’s scoring list is Mikey Johnston with 2 goals scored

Troy Parrott has received a call-up to the Ireland national team. The 21-year-old Tottenham Hotspur FC forward is doing well on loan for Excelsior Rotterdam FC. In the current season he scored three goals and made an assist. Head coach considers the striker as a potential partner for Evan Ferguson.

To be fair, Ireland have a very solid defense. They conceded only eight goals in eight FIFA World Cup qualifying matches and scored only 11 goals themselves, even though they didn’t get to play in the championship. The reason for the low performance is that Stephen Kenny prefers to play with five defenders.

Kenny has been leading the Irish national team for not the first year. Thanks to his endeavors, it is consistently in the mid-table. In the recent Nations League, Ireland finished third in the group. It defeated Scotland (3:0) and Armenia (3:2) at home, and also drew with Ukraine (1:1).

Netherlands form guide: L-L-W-W-L-W

Ireland form guide: L-W-L-L-L-W

Netherlands vs Ireland Head-To-Head Record:

• May 27, 2016: Ireland 1 – 1 Netherlands (International Friendly);
• September 10, 2023: Ireland 1 – 2 Netherlands (UEFA EURO).

Netherlands vs Ireland Predicted XI:

Netherlands’ possible starting lineup (3-4-2-1): Verbruggen; Geertruida, Van Dijk, Blind; Dumfries, Reijnders, Wieffer, Hartman; Simons, Weghorst, Gakpo.

Ireland’s possible starting lineup (4-3-3): Kelleher; Doherty, Duffy, Scales, Manning; Knight, Cullen, Molumby; Sykes, Ferguson, Johnston.

Statistical preview of the match Netherlands vs Ireland:

• First XI average age of the Dutch team is 26.0 years, while Ireland’s First XI average age is also 26.0 years.
• Marco Di Bello  has been appointed as the center referee. The referee has already served six games this season, showing an average of 3.17 Yellow Cards and also whistles 23.67 fouls per game. 
• In the FIFA ranking of the world’s national teams the Dutch team occupies 7th position, while the collective from Ireland is 50 lines lower, in 58th place.
• The Netherlands have won four matches and lost one match.
• The Oranje are scoring an average of 2.0 goals per game and conceding 0.6 goals per game, while possessing the ball for 55.4% of the playing time.
• The Dutch haven’t conceded a goal in three matches.
• Ireland have won two matches and suffered three defeats.
• Ireland are scoring an average of 1.6 goals and conceding 1.2 goals per game, while possessing the ball for 56.2% of the game time.
• Ireland kept their goal intact in two matches.
• The Oranje played three matches on their home field in the tournament, losing one to France, and winning two with a resounding 3:0 win over Gibraltar and Greece.
• Ireland have lost 4 of their past 7 matches at Netherlands’ ground.

What has been said before the match:

The coach of Dutch national team Ronald Koeman about the previous head-to-head meeting with Ireland and having a difficult group:

“We watches  all the games of Ireland, maybe they were a little bit unlucky against Holland at home or France at home, it was a close result, it’s difficult from my position to analyze every Ireland game but we still expect them to come to Amsterdam to win the game and to have a better feeling that they had in the last few games.”

“Previous meeting with Ireland didn’t start as we expected, we had to do it, but it was also about the Irish team who pressed a lot in the beginning. We lost a few balls in the first part of the attack and gave them the confidence to continue with that kind of play. I don’t know if they will start how they started in Ireland.”

“They will come and fight for a good result, maybe the system will be more defensive, and maybe if they get the impression of the first half in Dublin maybe they will continue with the organization that they had.”

When we got the draw for this group, I knew straight away that it would be difficult. Compared to some other groups, this one is a lot harder. Especially away to Ireland and away to Greece, there was the pressure that we had to do it. I think it’s great, considering the injuries we had back then. If you look at the qualities of the countries, we should qualify. But partying? No, not really, we will if we win the European Championship.”

Stephen Kenny, gaffer of the Irish collective, about the readiness of his players for the upcoming game:

“It’s business as usual, working hard and focusing on preparing well for the two games. The players are ambitious themselves, wanting to experience moments like playing Holland in Amsterdam and what goes with that in terms of opportunity that exists. The players are very determined.”

“And it’s a great game really, we go to Amsterdam to play against the Dutch. A terrific game and one that we are looking forward to. It’s a full house in Amsterdam, the players have not experienced that before, going to play against the Oranje away.”

“It’s been mentioned earlier in the week, that in Ireland’s history, our best away result is reportedly Scotland in 1987, Scotland away, so we have gone close to a couple ourselves, very close, so the objective for the players is to try. People might doubt the possibility, but the objective is to try to go to Holland and get an extraordinary win out there, and all the players to make their mark, individually and collectively in Amsterdam. And that has to be the objective.”

Netherlands vs Ireland Prediction:

The Netherlands can’t afford to lose points in the upcoming game and wait until the final round to settle the issue of guaranteeing participation in the final part of Euro 2024. The Oranje played three matches at Johan Cruijff Arena in the tournament, one of which they lost to France, and two of which they won against Gibraltar and Greece with a resounding score of 3-0. 

We believe that the Netherlands are clear favorites here. They will beat Ireland with confidence and a comfortable score as the overall superiority in class, the home field factor and the team’s form are all speal in their favor. The Irish do not have any tournament motivation, and all they can hope for is to endure 90 minutes in a low defensive block, hardly a tactic that will surprise the wards of the experienced Ronald Koeman. 

Parimatch News staff prediction:

We say: Netherlands will win with an individual total of more than 1.5  – Yes.

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