Netherlands host Latvia on Saturday looking to bounce back from the poor defeat to Turkey. Kick-off in Amsterdam is at 5pm.

Wednesday was a horror start for the Netherlands with Frank de Boer’s side falling to a poor 4-2 loss to Turkey in Istanbul, leaving Oranje on the backfoot from the start.

Netherlands must now bounce back from that defeat against Latvia, who lost their opening qualifier, 2-1 at home to Montenegro.

A win in Amsterdam is almost certain, but the performance must be a big improvement to ease the growing pressure on De Boer.

The game will be played in front of 5000 Netherlands fans, who are allowed into the stadium as a test into getting fans back into stadiums.

Team News

Frank de Boer is without Jasper Cillessen after he sustained an injury in the warm up against Turkey. Marco Bizot comes into the squad. De Boer needs to decide whether he sticks with Tim Krul after his errors against Turkey or does Maarten Stekelenburg start.

De Boer may decide to make several changes to the line-up that lost to Turkey with Davy Klaassen, Denzel Dumfries and Steven Bergwijn possible starters on Saturday.

Possible Netherlands line-up: Stekelenburg, Dumfries, Van Aanholt, De Ligt, Blind, De Jong, Wijnaldum, Klaassen, Bergwijn, Stengs, Memphis

Latvia have had some issues coming into the game, with Elvis Stuglis, Martins Kigurs, Vladislavs Gutkovskis and Kaspars Dubra all set to miss the game.

Possible Latvia line-up: Steinbors; Savalnieks, Oss, Maksimenko, Jurkovskis; Jaunzems, Zjuzins, Tobers, Ciganiks; Ikaunieks, Uldrikis

Odds

Netherlands 1/40 Draw 16/1 Latvia 28/1

Previous Meetings

Netherlands have played Latvia three times and won all three games. The last meeting was a 2-0 victory in Latvia back in 2015.

What to expect from Netherlands

Netherlands are unlikely to have many issues with Latvia, but all eyes are on the national team at the moment after Wednesday’s poor performance and result.

A big improvement is needed with anything but a big win unlikely to appease the media and Netherlands fans.

The Oranje players have been talking about bouncing back in a big way so expect them to go full on the attack tomorrow. De Boer’s team selection should be more attack-minded and some of the players that missed out on Wednesday should get a chance to impress.




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