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Sports Mole preview Tuesday’s Nations League clash between the Netherlands and Wales, including predictions, team news and possible line-ups.
Netherlands will look to cement their place at the top of Group 4 in League A UEFA Nations League if they are welcome Wales to Rotterdam on Tuesday evening.
Louis van GaalThe Wales side currently top the group with seven points from their three games, while Wales are bottom with just one point from their first three games.
game preview
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The Netherlands opened their 2022/23 UEFA Nations League season on 3 June with a 4-1 win over Belgium before celebrating consecutive success with a 2-1 win against Wales five days later.
Holland were prevented from scoring three straight wins by Poland on Saturday night, but Van Gaal’s side had to come from two goals down to take a point in Rotterdam David Klaassen and Denzel Dumfries on the score sheet early in the second half of the competition.
The hosts will look to move up to 10 points ahead of their final two games in the group against Poland and Belgium at the end of September on Tuesday night.
In the 2020–21 UEFA Nations League, the Netherlands finished second behind Italy in Group 1 of League A, and the European champions reached the semi-finals of the competition.
Van Gaal’s side finished second at the 2010 World Cup before finishing third in 2014, but they failed to qualify for the 2018 competition, losing three of their 10 qualifiers. Holland will be at Qatar 2022 and there have been many positive signs in the UEFA Nations League so far.
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Wales, meanwhile, managed to claim their first World Cup since 1958 by beating Ukraine 1-0 in the play-offs last Sunday Gareth Bale‘s deflected free kick was the difference between the two sides.
The Dragons will face the United States, Iran and England in the group stage of the 2022 competition but they have struggled to impress in the UEFA Nations League so far.
Rob pageThe Netherlands team opened their 2022/23 season on 1 June with a 2-1 defeat in Poland before losing 2-1 at home to the Netherlands seven days later.
However, the Dragons scored a point on Saturday evening Brennan Johnson came off the bench to register in the 86th minute after that Youri Tielemans had sent the visitors ahead in Cardiff.
Wales finished first in Group 4 of League B in their last season in the UEFA Nations League, accumulating 16 points from their six games against Finland, the Republic of Ireland and Bulgaria in which they managed promotion.
Form of the Dutch Nations League:
Netherlands form (all competitions):
Form of the Wales Nations League:
Wales form (all competitions):
Team News
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Netherlands coach Van Gaal is expected to resist the temptation to reshuffle his pack on Tuesday night as most of the players who started against Poland will keep their places.
On the back, however, there could be a change Matthijs de Ligt possibly come for Nathan Akewhile Jasper Cillessen should shake off a knock to appear between the sticks.
Memphis Depay missed a late penalty against Poland but will play in a front two again and could be a regular for Cody GakpoWith Steven Bergwijn possibly fall on the bench.
As for Wales, Johnson’s reserve goal against Belgium will have him firmly in Page’s mind, but the Nottingham Forest striker is likely to be a substitute again.
Joe Allen had to be taken off in the first half of the Red Devils clash and is likely to be replaced Aaron Ramsay in the middle of the park.
Rhys Norrington Davies and Ruby Colwill are among the options for a move but are unlikely to see many changes from the side that took the field for the first kick-off Robert Martinez‘s team on Saturday.
Netherlands possible starting line-up:
cill eating; Wood, De Vrij, De Ligt; Dumfries, Berghuis, Klaassen, F. de Jong, Blind; Gakpo, Memphis
Wales possible starting line-up:
Hennessy; Mepham, Rodon, Davies; Ampadu; Roberts, Ramsey, Wilson, N Williams; James, Balle
We say: Netherlands 2-1 Wales
Wales are more than capable of causing problems for the Netherlands and we expect a close game on Tuesday night. However, Holland will be determined to bounce back from their disappointing performance against Poland and we believe Van Gaal’s side will record another 2-1 win over Wales.
For a data analysis of the most likely outcomes, goal scores and more for this game, please click here.
top tip
Our experienced tipster partners at Sporita.com predict a home win in this game. Click here to find out what else they predict for this game and for more of their tried and true football tips.Home win: data