Netherlands host Spain on Wednesday in an international friendly. Kick-off in Amsterdam is at 7.45pm.
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Netherlands end their UEFA Nations League campaign later this week with ties against Poland and Bosnia & Herzegovina, but first, they face Spain in a friendly
Frank de Boer is still looking for his first win as Netherlands boss with a loss to Mexico on his debut followed up by draws with Bosnia & Herzegovina and Italy.
The switch to 5-3-2 and performance against Italy was encouraging though and De Boer will be hoping his side’s performance improves even further over the next week.
Spain, coached by Luis Enrique, currently sits top of their Nations League group and will be looking ahead to their games with Germany and Switzerland later in the week.
Last month, Spain drew 0-0 at Portugal, won 1-0 against Switzerland and then lost 1-0 to Ukraine.
Team News
The match gives De Boer a chance to experiment and test some players out, like he did last month against Mexico.
Jasper Cillessen, Matthijs de Ligt, Virgil van Dijk, and Steven Bergwijn are all out of the clash. Tonny Vilhena is also a late absentee after testing positive for coronavirus.
Goalkeepers Marco Bizot and Joel Drommel are the only players looking to make their debuts. De Boer confirmed that Bizot will start and he will return to a 4-3-3 formation.
Possible Netherlands line-up: Bizot, Hateboer, Wijndal, De Vrij, Blind, Koopmeiners, Klaassen, Van de Beek, Babel, Berghuis, Memphis
Spain are without Barcelona wonderkid Ansu Fati, who is injured, while Rodrigo and Thiago are also out.
Marcos Llorente could make his Spain debut. It is expected that Enrique will rest some players ahead of the Nations League games.
Possible Spain line-up: Kepa; Navas, Ramos, P.Torres, Gaya; Canales, Rodri, Merino; Olmo, Llorente; Morata
Odds
Netherlands 9/5 Draw 11/5 Spain 11/8
Previous Meetings
Netherlands and Spain have met on eleven previous occasions with Oranje booking six wins, while La Roja have four.
The most famous meeting came in the final of the 2010 World Cup which Spain won 1-0 in Extra-time. Netherlands would get their revenge four years later in the 5-1 win at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.
Most recently, Netherlands defeated Spain 2-0 in a friendly back in 2015.
Can de Boer get his first victory?
Netherlands needs to build on the momentum from the draw in Italy, and a win against Spain would be a major boost heading into the final two Nations League games.
It is likely that both sides will rest players and it will be interesting to see the likes of Koopmeiners and Wijndal get a chance once again. Also the return of Davy Klaassen is well earned due to his form at Ajax and he could add something to the Oranje midfield.
Spain have so much talent even in their second string and it will be a tough game. They are also looking for some momentum so will be keen to book a victory.
Netherlands v Spain has a rivalry to it now after the previous two World Cup games and both sides will be eager to get the win.
If De Boer’s 5-3-2 formation impresses again then Netherlands definitely has a chance.
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