Netherlands meet Czech Republic at Puskas Arena, Budapest, Hungary, as both teams look to advance to the Quarter-Finals.
Netherlands qualified for this stage as Group C winners whilst Czech Republic advanced as one of the four best third-placed teams, having lost their final Group D match despite starting that match at the summit.
The winner of this tie will meet Wales or Denmark in Baku, Azerbaijan on Saturday 3 July 2021.
Team News
Luuk De Jong is ruled out for Netherlands for the remainder of the tournament with a knee injury, as manager – Frank De Boer has no other fresh injury concerns.
Czech Republic have no fresh injury concerns to report but Jan Boril is suspended after being booked in Tuesday’s loss to England.
Stat Attack
- Netherlands have won just one of two previous meetings against Czech Republic at the Euros (W1, L1).
- Czech Republic are yet to keep clean sheets against Netherlands at the Euros, having conceded three goals across two previous meetings.
- Two of the last three meetings across all competitions in which Netherlands played as the ‘home’ team were won 3-2 by Czech Republic.
- Netherlands’ Georginio Wijnaldum is the only midfielder to had seen four shots blocked in the Group Stage.
- Patrik Schick is yet to score on his right foot at this summer’s Euros with two of his three goals being scored on his left foot, alongside one headed goal.
Prediction
Netherlands comfortably dominated Group C with eight goals scored and just two goals conceded with three largely impressive performances, yet they nearly crumbled in their only big test so far as Ukraine almost snatched a 2-2 draw in their opener so this will be their toughest test yet.
Czech Republic on the other hand will be slightly disappointed with their performance against England last Tuesday because they struggled to get a foothold in the game, especially against such a high sprint tempo yet they failed to clinically finish their own chances.
I however do think that match will be of benefit especially given how dominant Netherlands can be so I expect Czech Republic to come here fighting, especially with a more disciplined defensive performance but I do feel that De Boer’s Oranje could have too much for the Czechs here.
Prediction: Netherlands 2-1 Czech Republic
Result: Netherlands 0-2 Czech Republic