Netherlands vs Scotland tips and predictions: Scots to stand firm and find the net
- George Dempsey
- 20 March 2024
Preparations for Euro 2024 in Germany go up a gear on Friday as the Netherlands welcome Scotland to the Johan Cruijff Arena (1945 GMT).
Scotland have fond memories of their last visit to the Netherlands as Jack Hendry and Kevin Nisbet struck to earn them a commendable 2-2 draw.
The hosts have made progress since then as they qualified for back-to-back tournaments for the first time since 2014 and reached the quarter-finals of the World Cup.
They’ll make it three on the spin when they appear in Germany alongside Steve Clarke’s Scotland in the summer.
Friday’s clash at the Johan Cruijff Arena is a good measuring stick of where both teams are currently.
The hosts will expect to find a way through the Scots and although their qualifying record was as good as expected, there are still questions to answer.
The Dutch beat Gibraltar, Greece and the Republic of Ireland twice but were outscored 6-1 across two meetings with group winners France.
Scotland have been trending in the right direction for a while as Spain, Ukraine and Denmark are the only three sides to have beaten them in a qualifying campaign since 2017.
There seems to be a new-found belief that they are increasingly capable of competing on the biggest stage, as evidenced by their 2-0 win over Spain in qualifying.
Good teams have found ways to score in bunches against Ronald Koeman’s side so they’re far from bulletproof, and the Scots have found the net in 13 of 15.
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Key stats
- Eight of the Netherland’s last eight have been decided by no more than one goal
- The Netherlands have conceded in 16 of their last 20 home friendlies
- Scotland have scored in 13 of their last 15 matches
- Scotland drew 2-2 on their last visit to the Netherlands
Team news
We expect to see a full-strength Dutch side with Virgil van Dijk, Tijjani Reijnders, Cody Gakpo and the increasingly influential Xavi Simons involved.
Georginio Wijnaldum and Memphis Depay have earned a recall and could don an orange shirt for the first time in 12 months.
Scott McTominay, Billy Gilmour, John McGinn, Kenny McLean and Scott Armstrong will all hope for a start in their respective midfield roles.
One of Lyndon Dykes, Che Adams or Lawrence Shankland will lead the line with the latter in great form and perhaps most deserving.
