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

The Netherlands will face Austria in the UEFA EURO 2024 3rd-round match of Group D at the Olympic Stadium in Berlin. The fixture will take place on Tuesday, June 25, beginning at 21:30 IST.

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

Netherlands News & Current Form: 

The suspense in Group D dubbed the second Group of Death, has reached a fever pitch as the final round of matches approaches. Poland is already out of Euro 2024, but the positions of Austria, France, and the Netherlands remain undecided. While all three teams are likely to advance to the playoffs, securing a more favourable opponent is paramount. France has a slight edge as their opponent lacks motivation, while Austria and the Netherlands will battle it out directly for a better spot.

Interestingly, the upcoming opponents were in the same group in the previous European Championship, where the Dutch won comfortably 2:0. Over the past 20 years, the two teams have met four times, with the Flying Dutchmen winning all four matches and an aggregate score of 10:1. However, under specialist Rangnick, Austria now present their strongest team in two decades. Can they seize the moment and take revenge?

Currently, the Netherlands and France are leading the group, each with four points, but the Dutch have scored one more goal than their first-place contender. The Oranje won their first match against Poland. Despite the opponent’s frequent initiative and the absence of Robert Lewandowski, the Dutchmen managed to turn the match around. Wout Weghorst continued his scoring streak, netting in his fifth consecutive match as a substitute. Koeman’s charges displayed an interesting playstyle, with Memphis Depay’s deep runs, the creativity of Xavi Simons, and the dynamic movements of Cody Gakpo making their attack unpredictable. Additionally, Denzel Dumfries was a constant threat in the opponent’s penalty area.

Goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen was crucial in their build-up play and performed well on the line, securing his spot in the goal. The incredible speed of Micky Van de Ven could have been useful, but with Mbappe being absent, there was no urgent need for changes in defence. Injuries to Frenkie De Jong and Teun Koopmeiners left Koeman with few options in the midfield, with the only alternatives being the ageing 33-year-old Georginio Wijnaldum and the inexperienced Ryan Gravenberch.

The crucial second match against France ended in a goalless draw, marking the first time in nine European Championship matches (4 wins, 4 losses) that the Dutch played to a draw in regular time. Despite the positive result in the first match, the main coach altered the lineup by bringing in Jeremie Frimpong. Regarding Simons’ effectiveness in the centre of the pitch, his stats and his goal against France (0:0), which was disallowed due to offside after a VAR review, will best tell you that. On the other hand, even at 80% pass accuracy, only 31 assists per game for a player of his position is critically low. 

Gaffer Ronald Koeman has expressed his opinion on the refereeing decisions in the match against the Blues:

“I think the position of Dumfries is offside but he isn’t disturbing the goalkeeper. When that happens it is a legal goal. Also, do you need five minutes to check it? I don’t understand this.”

“If we think about the whole game there were times we weren’t up to scratch. We lost possession when we shouldn’t have and our pressing wasn’t great either, there was too much space in between the lines. France had better chances than we did, not that many, but I personally think the goal should have stood. Therefore my takeaway is that it is a fair result.”

Xavi Simons’ goal against France was disallowed due to an offside call

The Netherlands have long been absent from the elite of European football. Now, however, the Oranje boast a solid and capable generation. A significant issue for the Dutch could be the absence of defenders Ian Maatsen and Quilindschy Hartman, with no clear replacements for the left flank. Ronald Koeman will also miss key midfielder Marten de Roon, who had a strong season with Atalanta BC.

Regarding their performance leading up to the championship, the Netherlands qualified confidently for Euro 2024, though they lost twice to France in the qualifiers (0:4 and 1:2). In both meetings, Kylian Mbappe scored two doubles and also provided an assist. In friendlies, the Dutch mentor showed that his team is well-prepared for Euro 2024, with dominant wins over Canada (4:0) and Iceland (4:0), displaying good attacking football that was fast and well-coordinated, working like a Swiss watch.

Austria News & Current Form: 

The Austrian national team hasn’t made an appearance on the world stage in the 21st century, but they have been more frequent participants in the European Championship. Euro 2024 will mark their fourth appearance in the last five tournaments. In the previous championship, the Eagles reached the round of 16 for the first time in their history, where they were narrowly defeated by eventual champions Italy in a penalty shootout.

Ralf Rangnick, the manager of the Austrian team, has completely transformed the squad

During the qualifying cycle, the Reds found themselves in a tough Group F but managed to finish second behind Belgium, earning a direct ticket to Germany. Following this achievement, Austria played five friendly matches, including an impressive 2:0 victory over Germany, host-country, in November. In March of this year, the team under the guidance of Ralf Rangnick won both of their matches.

They first secured a 2:0 victory over Slovakia, with Christoph Baumgartner scoring early and Andreas Weimann sealing the win with a late goal. In their second match, Austria dominated Turkey with a 6:1 win, featuring a hat-trick by Michael Gregoritsch. Their attacking play was outstanding, and their defence remained solid. In June, the Eagles defeated Serbia 2:0 and drew 1:1 with Switzerland in their final preparatory match. Baumgartner was instrumental in these matches, contributing to all three goals with two goals and one assist.

Under Rangnick’s leadership, Austria has transformed into a very resilient team, capable of challenging any opponent on a good day. The team were certainly unfortunate with their group, but they can realistically aim to progress to the playoffs from the third position. 

The Austrian coach did not hesitate to make significant changes to his lineup for the second match, injecting new energy into the team. Consequently, the Red Eagles looked much better against Poland in terms of creating and converting chances (3:1), which was not evident in their first-round match against France (0:1). Notably, the victory in the second round was only their third win in 12 matches played in the European Championships (with three draws and six losses in regular time).

Austria’s success should not be solely attributed to Marko Arnautović starting. The renowned forward scored a penalty, but apart from that strike, he only touched the ball twice in both penalty areas. Therefore, it is unlikely that he will start in the crucial third-round match.

Interestingly, the overall direction of Austria’s shot attempts was atypical. Only 5 out of 15 attempts were taken from outside the penalty area, while most of their chances were created deep within Poland’s penalty zone.

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

Austria form guide: W-W-W-D-L-W

Netherlands vs Austria Head-To-Head Record:

• February 9, 2011: Netherlands 3 – 1 Austria (International Friendly);
• June 4, 2016: Austria 0 – 2 Netherlands (International Friendly);
• June 17, 2021: Netherlands 2 – 0 Austria (UEFA EURO).

Netherlands vs Austria Predicted XI:

Netherlands’ possible starting lineup (4-2-3-1): Verbruggen; Dumfries, De Vrij, Van Dijk, Ake; Reijnders, Schouten; Frimpong, Simons, Gakpo; Depay.

Austria’s possible starting lineup (4-2-3-1): Pentz; Posch, Danso, Lienhart, Mwene; Seiwald, Laimer; Wimmer, Baumgartner, Sabitzer; Gregoritsch.

Statistical preview of the match Netherlands vs Austria:

• The Dutch national team holds 7th place in the FIFA ranking of national squads, while the Austrian collective is ranked 25th.
• The Netherlands’ First XI average age is 27.1 years, and Austria’s First XI average age is 27.6 years.

• Ivan Kružliak has been appointed as the centre referee. The match official has already served seven games this season, showing an average of 3.2 yellow cards and also whistles 23 fouls per game. 
• The Netherlands haven’t lost four matches in a row.
• Austria have won three of their last five matches.
• The Poles have been the only side to score against the Netherlands in the last four matches.
• France was the previous team to keep their gates shut against Austria (Nations League match, 22 September 2022).
• In 11 of the Netherlands’ last 14 official matches, at least three goals have been scored in regular time.
• At least one of Austria’s opponents has failed to score in regular time in 7 of their last 10 Euro matches. 
• No more than two goals have been scored in 90 minutes in 9 of the Eagles’ 12 previous matches at the European Championships. 

• In the last 5 games, the Netherlands conceded an average of 0.60 goals per game and scored an average of 2.20 goals per game.
• In the last 5 games, Austria conceded an average of 1.00 goals per game and scored an average of 2.40 goals per game.

What has been said before the match:

“Normally, I always say that it’s very important to get off to a good start in a tournament. We lost the first game and then had a lot of pressure in the second. You could tell that. We knew that the game was extremely important. That’s why I was pleased with how the team started the game. Then we lost the thread a bit. After the break, we were on top again and deserved to win. That gives us confidence for the next game,” said ÖFB sporting director Peter Schöttel.

Schöttel emphasises:

“We will try to win the game and qualify directly for the round of 16. We don’t want to have to wait for any calculation games.”

Lars Kornetka, assistant coach to team boss Ralf Rangnick, agrees:

“We’re not worrying so much about what’s mathematically possible, we just want to score points against the Netherlands. We’ll do everything we can to do that. The Dutch have good individual players who can be dangerous one-on-one. We will try to do what we have been able to do in phases in the last few games.”

Netherlands vs Austria Prediction:

The Netherlands have a good chance here, given that they have won six of their eight previous official matches. At the same time, they are an extremely uncomfortable opponent for the Austrian national team: the Oranges have won all seven previous head-to-head meetings with a total score of 20:7. At least 3 goals were scored in 75 per cent of cases in this stretch. Such a trend is typical for this team: 11 out of 14 official matches involving the Netherlands have seen 3 or more goals scored. The nominal hosts will be free from the pressure, as a draw will be enough for Ronald Koeman’s side to qualify for the play-offs, and even a defeat is unlikely to be anything to worry about. The Dutch head coach has the advantage in terms of talent and class of performers, while Ralph has the advantage in terms of chemistry and realisation of his game plans. We expect the match to be quite tense and eventful: Austria will put pressure on the Netherlands with their high pressing, which also warms the ground for Dutch counterattacks, something that Xavi Simons and company do very well. It won’t be an easy outing for the favourites, but we expect that the Oranges will still be able to get the desired result.

Parimatch News staff prediction:

We say: Netherlands will not lose and the match total will be over 2.5 – Yes.
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