THE Netherlands have been scoring for fun in the build-up to Euro 2024 and will fancy their chances of getting off to flyer in Group D with Poland missing star man Robert Lewandowski.
Plenty of people think the Dutch will be dark horses this summer and they certainly have lots of firepower. Since the end of the Euro qualifiers, Ronald Koeman's men have played four friendlies and three of those games ended in 4-0 wins.
But in the middle of those victories over Scotland, Canada and Iceland was a 2-1 loss to Germany and that shows the Netherlands will need to up their game to compete with the Euro elite.
Poland only scraped through to the finals with a shoot-out win over Wales and their hopes of reaching the knockout stages suffered a blow when top scorer Lewandowski limped out of the friendly with Turkey.
The Poles still managed to win that game 2-1, bringing up one of Monday's Super Singles, and head into the finals on an eight-game unbeaten run.
So Michal Probierz's men will be out to prove they are far from a one-man team by upsetting the Dutch in their opener without Lewandowski.
How the bookies view it: Magic Dutch for the opener
It's no great surprise to see the Netherlands as favourites for this one but I'm surprised to see them as short as 11/20 with Bet365. The Poles are 19/4 outsiders and even the draw is pretty big at 16/5.
Head to head: Poles out to end the curse
The Netherlands have been a bogey team for Poland who have yet to taste victory in this fixture. Five of the six clashes have ended in Dutch victories, including a 2-0 Warsaw triumph when these teams last faced off two years ago in the Nations League.
Last five H2H duels:
- 22/09/2022 (UEFA Nations League) – Poland 0-2 Netherlands
- 11/06/2022 (UEFA Nations League) – Netherlands 2-2 Poland
- 18/11/2020 (UEFA Nations League) – Poland 1-2 Netherlands
- 04/09/2020 (UEFA Nations League) – Netherlands 1-0 Poland
- 01/06/2016 (International Friendly) – Poland 1-2 Netherlands
Players to watch: A Cody red for Poland
Cody Gakpo was the main man for the Netherlands at the last World Cup and netted in all three group games. The Liverpool forward comes alive in a Dutch shirt and is 8/5 for anytime scorer.
Lewandowski isn't the only forward injured for the Poles, with Juventus star Arkadiusz Milik missing out on the finals and Karol Swiderski also going off early against Turkey. Napoli midfielder Piotr Zielinski looks their best bet for a goal at 17/2 and he's also 13/8 just to have an effort on target.
Probable teams
Midfielders Teun Koopmeiners and Frenkie de Jong both withdrew from the Dutch squad due to injuries so Koeman will need to tinker with his engine room. Probierz's biggest dilemma is who starts up front with Lewandowski out.
Poland: Szczesny, Bednarek, Dawidowicz, Kiwior, Frankowski, Slisz, Piotrowski, Zalewski, Zielinski, S Szymanski, Piatek
Netherlands: Verbruggen, Dumfries, De Ligt, Van Dijk, Ake, Reijnders, Veerman, Simons, Wijnaldum, Gakpo, Depay
Anything else catch the eye?
With Poland missing so many big-name strikers there could be some value in backing a Dutch win to nil, especially as they kept clean sheets in three of their warm-up games. That bet pays 11/8 with Bet365.
Skipper Virgil van Dijk has been taking the Dutch penalties and also scored from open play in their last two friendlies. So a speculative punt on the Liverpool defender to score could pay off at 6/1.
Southampton's Jan Bednarek has amassed an impressive 15 yellow cards for club and country this term so the Pole looks good value to go in the book here at 21/10.
This Euro 2024 match between Poland and Netherlands will be played on Jun 16, 2024 and kick off at 14:00. Check below for our tipsters best Poland vs Netherlands prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
