Portugal vs Netherlands
Two aristocrats of European football meet at the Stade de Geneve on Monday night when Portugal, Cristiano Ronaldo and all, meet the Netherlands.
Both teams are in fine form, having won five of their last six football games. While the Netherlands have missed qualification for the World Cup, they are beginning to look like a team again. And you can see that in the betting odds, with Portugal to win 2.19, the Netherlands at 3.15 and the draw at 3.25.
The Netherlands, inventors of Total Football, are trying to recapture their former glory under new coach Ronald Koeman and see these friendly games as a chance to test their progress against some of the best. Defeat to England at the weekend was a setback, but Koeman’s undoubted pedigree can only be a good thing. And Ajax, for so long the backbone of successful Netherlands teams, have provided another gem in the shape of the classy defender Matthijs de Ligt, alongside Liverpool’s Virgil van Dijk.
The Netherlands failed to test the England defence properly in Amsterdam, but they do carry a threat in Memphis Depay and the giant presence of Bas Dost alongside the quick-footed Quincy Promes.
Portugal, meanwhile, won a thriller against Egypt after Mo Salah looked like he’d won it for the visitors until Cristiano Ronaldo—who else—popped up to score two headers in injury time. Ricardo Quaresma had a beautiful delivery and was the man to tee up Ronaldo’s late goals.
Portugal will take the game to the Dutch, but these are often tight affairs with three of the last five going to Portugal, all by the odd goal, and the other two being draws. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Koeman steer his team to a good result.
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Disclaimer: Odds are correct at time of publish.