Netherlands continue their World Cup qualifying campaign on Sunday with a trip to Luxembourg.
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Danny Blind’s quest towards Russia in 2018 started well with the draw in Sweden and the victory over Belarus, but the defeat at home to France in October has left Netherlands third in the group and in fear of missing another major international tournament.
A victory over Luxembourg on Sunday is now a must for Netherlands, who welcome Arjen Robben back to the squad for the first time in this qualifying campaign.
Speaking at his press conference on Saturday, Blind said the return of his captain was a major boost but they can not only rely on one player. He said, “Arjen is an excellent player who plays at a great club. Such a great player you like to have, but we need to talk not only about Robben. It’s about the team and he’s a part of it. We have to win together tomorrow night. ”
Virgil van Dijk added that Robben’s return will put fear into Luxembourg on Sunday, “Arjen is a world class player. I am also convinced that he strikes fear into the opponents.”
Opponents Luxembourg are currently sitting bottom of the group and without a win in their last eight matches, with seven of those ending in defeat. However, Luc Holtz’s side have shown signs of improvements recently. holding Belarus to a 1-1 draw last time out, while they only went down to a 1-0 defeat to Sweden last month.
Netherlands Team News
Netherlands lost Stijn Schaars, Jeremain Lens and Vincent Janssen to injury in the 1-1 friendly draw with Belgium on Wednesday with Leroy Fer and Marten de Roon drafted into the squad. Blind has confirmed that he will line-up with an attacking 4-3-3 which could see Joshua Brenet and Bart Ramselaar both start, while Bas Dost will play up front.
Expected Netherlands XI: Stekelenburg, Brenet, Blind, Van Dijk, Bruma, Ramselaar, Klaassen, Wijnaldum, Sneijder, Robben, Dost
Luxembourg captain Aurelien Joachim will be familiar to fans of Dutch football with the striker spending a year on loan with Willem II during the 2012/13 season.
Odds
Luxembourg 14/1 Draw 8/1 Netherlands 1/8
Head to Head
Netherlands and Luxembourg have met on 15 occasions with Oranje coming out on top in 12 of those. The last eight meetings have all gone in Netherlands favour with 31 goals scored and not a single one conceded. You would have to go back to 1963 to find the last Luxembourg goal and victory against Netherlands.
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