THE Netherlands and France face off at the Red Bull Arena in Euro 2024 Group D on Friday night.
Both sides kicked off their respective campaigns with victories, and the pair will be looking to build on those successes by securing another three points in Saxony.
The Dutch had to dig deep to pick up all three points against Poland in their opening match of the competition, coming from behind to secure a late 2-1 win.
Ronald Koeman’s side were largely uninspiring in their win over the Eagles on Sunday, so a much-improved showing will be needed if they are to take top honours against France.
That being said, Didier Deschamps's side were also unconvincing when edging out Austria 1-0 in Dusseldorf on Monday night.
After suffering a broken nose on matchday one, France superstar Kylian Mbappe is an injury doubt for France's second group game on Friday night.
How the bookies view it: French fancied for three points
Despite being one the favourites to win Euro 2024, France are as big as 13/10 on Betfred to make it two wins from two in Group D.
The Netherlands are 11/5 outsiders on Betfred to land all three points in Leipzig while a share of the spoils can be backed at 23/10 on Betfred.
Head to head: History favours the French
These two teams were housed in the same qualifying group en-route to Euro 2024, with France holding the upper hand. Les Bleus dismantled the Dutch 4-0 in Paris before battling to a 2-1 win in the reverse fixture.
Overall, France have come out on top in 16 of the 29 meetings between the two nations, including seven of the last eight encounters.
Last five H2H duels:
- 13/10/2003 (EURO Qualifiers) – Netherlands 1-2 France
- 24/03/2003 (EURO Qualifiers) – France 4-0 Netherlands
- 16/11/2018 (UEFA Nations League) – Netherlands 2-0 France
- 09/09/2018 (UEFA Nations League) – France 2-1 Netherlands
- 31/08/2017 (World Cup Qualifiers) – France 4-0 Netherlands
Players to watch: Griezmann the go-to man
With the aforementioned Kylian Mbappe a major doubt for this clash, France will look to Antoine Griezmann for inspiration. The 33-year-old maestro is 5/2 (Betfred) to net anytime and 13/2 (Betfred) to score the opening goal of the game. However, backing Griezmann to register just one shot on target looks the more appealing option at even-money on Betfred.
Joey Veerman picked up a yellow card in the Netherlands 2-1 win over Poland and he is 7/2 (Betfred) to land himself in trouble with referee Anthony Taylor on Friday night.
Predicted line-ups
After coming off the bench to score the winning goal against Poland on Sunday, Wout Weghorst is pushing for a recall to the Netherlands starting XI.
Bradley Barcola looks the most likely candidate to deputise for broken nose victim Kylian Mbappe.
Netherlands: Verbruggen; Dumfries, De Vrij, Van Dijk, Ake; Schouten, Veerman; Simons, Reijnders, Gakpo; Depay
France: Maignan; Kounde, Saliba, Upamecano, Hernandez; Kante, Rabiot; Dembele, Griezmann, Barcola; Thuram
Anything else catch the eye?
Even without Kylian Mbappe, France look too big to ignore at the aforementioned 13/10 quote on Betfred.
Didier Deschamps has an embarrassment of riches at his disposal and his side are more than capable of claiming top honours without their talisman.
What's more, the Netherlands tend to fall short when they come up against the continent’s elite side’s, and I fancy them to fall short in Saxony.
This Euro 2024 match between Netherlands and France will be played on Jun 21, 2024 and kick off at 20:00. Check below for our tipsters best Netherlands vs France prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
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