Netherlands round off their European Championship qualifying campaign with a tie against Estonia in Amsterdam on Tuesday. Kick-off is at 7.45pm.
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On Saturday, Netherlands booked their place at the European Championships next year with a 0-0 draw in Belfast against Northern Ireland.
For Ronald Koeman’s men it’s job done but they still have one qualifier left to play and still have an outside chance of topping the group. Netherlands need to beat Estonia in Amsterdam and hope that Germany’s fails to beat Northern Ireland at home.
Even if Netherlands finish second they are set to get a favourable draw for the Euros as one of the host cities. That means they cannot draw France, Spain, Italy or England in the group stages.
Netherlands were criticised after the 0-0 draw in Belfast for their poor performance, especially in attack. At his press conference on Monday, Koeman said on the game, “Of course, I also thought it was not our maximum level. And especially offensive. But it wasn’t that it wasn’t to be seen. If you look back at the game, there are many moments that we could have made a goal. The last pass and the occupation for the goal were not always good and we often did not make the right choices.”
Opponents Estonia turn up in Amsterdam bottom of the group and without a win in their seven matches so far.
Team News
Virgil van Dijk is out of Tuesday’s clash after pulling out of the squad through personal reasons, while Ryan Babel and Marten de Roon also didn’t travel.
Memphis Depay and Georginio Wijnaldum should be fit to start after taking part in full training on Monday.
Koeman may elect to change his line-up with Myron Boadu and Calvin Stengs hopeful of making their debut’s.
Possible Netherlands line-up: Cillessen, Dumfries, Van Aanholt, De Ligt, Ake, Frenkie, Propper, Wijnaldum, Promes, Stengs, Memphis
Estonia are without key centre-back and former AZ Alkmaar player Ragner Klavan but former Go Ahead Eagles striker Henrik Ojamaa could feature.
Possible Estonia line-up: Igonen, Teniste, Pikk, Kuusk, Baranov, Kreida, Kait, Ainsalu, Puri, Liivak, Anier
Odds
Netherlands 1/33 Draw 25/1 Estonia 50/1
Previous Meetings
Netherlands have met Estonia five times in the past with four of those games ending in a win, while one was a draw.
Back in September, Netherlands won 4-0 in Estonia thanks to goals from Ryan Babel, Memphis Depay and Georginio Wijnaldum.
Time to rotate and give players a chance
Qualification is guaranteed and it is unlikely that Germany will slip up against Northern Ireland, so Tuesday’s game is a free hit for Netherlands.
Estonia are a very poor side and it should give Koeman the opportunity to try out a few different options. Nathan Ake could replace Van Dijk, while Patrick van Aanholt, Calvin Stengs, Wout Weghorst and Myron Boadu will all be hoping to get a chance.
Koeman would learn very little from putting out his strongest side on Tuesday so might as well use the game to experiment.
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Against a weak opponent like Estonia, i’d like to see Blind shifted to CB. That will allow for a nice reunion of Ajax’s De Ligt-Blind-De Jong central triangle from last season which was excellent in build-up play.
If Koeman doesn’t give Stengs an opportunity now, he may never do so. That would be extremely disappointing because he looks a very good player with superb passing range in addition to finishing.