Netherlands host Montenegro on Saturday evening in a must-win World Cup qualifier. The kick-off in Eindhoven is at 19.45.

On Wednesday evening, Louis van Gaal’s third era as Netherlands boss got underway with a 1-1 draw in Oslo against Norway. Netherlands fell behind to Erling Haaland’s goal but earned a point through Davy Klaassen.

Oranje dominated possession during the game but clearly lacked creativity, which Van Gaal will need to work on before the clash with Montenegro on Saturday.

Montenegro started their campaign with a slender win over Latvia and a 4-1 victory against Gibraltar. They then lost 1-0 to Norway before taking a last-minute 2-2 draw in Turkey on Wednesday.

Group G is very tight at the moment with Turkey still leading the way with eight points, but Netherlands, Norway, and Montenegro all sit on seven points. Netherlands needs to beat Montenegro and then Turkey on Tuesday to take control of the group with four games left.

Team News

Daley Blind is out of the game after he picked up a yellow card suspension in the game against Norway, but Matthijs de Ligt is once again available.

Van Gaal confirmed that Stefan de Vrij will start, meaning De Ligt may have to settle for a place on the bench. Denzel Dumfries is set to come into the side, while Steven Berghuis will start despite coming off at half-time against Norway.

Tyrell Malacia could make his debut at left-back.

Possible Netherlands line-up: Bijlow, Dumfries, Malacia, Van Dijk, De Ligt, Frenkie, Wijnaldum, Klaassen, Gakpo, Berghuis, Memphis

Montenegro are without their key player and captain Stevan Jovetic for the clash in the Netherlands.

Vitesse fans may remember striker Uros Durdevic, who had a short spell in Arnhem. Stefan Savic of Atletico Madrid and Adam Marusic of Lazio are the most recognisable names in the squad.

Possible Montenegro line-up: Mijatovic; Vesovic, Savic, Vujacic, Tomasevic; Marucic, Scekic, Kosovic, Haksabanovic; Bosovic, Durdevic

Odds

Netherlands 1/8 Draw 8/1 Montenegro 14/1

Previous Meetings

This is the first time that Netherlands will face Montenegro since they became independent.

Must win game for Netherlands

Qualifying for the World Cup next year is still in the Netherlands hands thanks to the late Montenegro equaliser in Turkey on Wednesday. However, Van Gaal cannot afford any more slip-ups and if they want to make Qatar then winning against Montenegro on Saturday is a must.

Montenegro has some decent players and they are well organised but this is a game that the Netherlands should be winning. Hopefully, we will see a confident attacking performance from Oranje which will boost the confidence ahead of the crucial game against Turkey next week.




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