Euro 2016 Qualifiers: Iceland vs Netherlands preview

October 12, 2014
By: Nemanja Lazarevic

Iceland vs NetherlandsBuoyed by big wins over Turkey and Latvia, Iceland will try and claim another major scalp when they host struggling Netherlands in Reykjavik.

Oranje needed to work hard to secure a home win over Kazakhstan and they will have to show a massive improvement in order to win this game as well.

Iceland have yet to make their first appearance at a major tournament, but it is only a matter of time before the team end the barren run.

The Nordic side came really close to reaching the 2014 World Cup finals having lost in the play-offs to Croatia, and they seem determined to make it to the Euro 2006.

Iceland enjoyed a brilliant start to the new qualifying campaign, hammering Turkey 3-0 at home before recording the same result in the away match against Latvia on Friday.

Lars Lagerback’s side didn’t have an easy job few days ago seeing as how they scored all three goals after Artoms Rudnevs had been sent off.

However, with the hosts flying on confidence at the moment, they look a good bet at 1.65 (13/20) to score at least once against the Netherlands.

Ajax striker Kolbeinn Sigthorsson started the Latvia game having recovered from a knee problem, with Johann Gudmundsson the only player missing at the moment.

Probable starting line-up (4-1-3-2): Halldorsson – T. Bjarnason, R. Sigurdsson, Arnason, Skulason – Gunnarsson – B. Bjarnason, G. Sigurdsson, Halfredsson – Bodvarsson, Sigthorsson.

While impressing to achieve a third-place finish at the 2014 World Cup, Netherlands have found it hard to stay on the right track following the departure of Louis van Gaal.

The friendly defeat to Italy was followed by the 2-1 loss to Czech Republic in the opening Euro 2016 qualifier, and that result put pressure on the players ahead of the home game against Kazakhstan.

Netherlands largely dominated the proceedings, but were a goal down at half-time and needed super sub Klaas Jan Huntelaar to score the equalizer before Ibrahim Afellay and Robin van Persie scored against ten-man visitors.

And with the atmosphere in the team far from perfect, odds of 1.67 (2/3) offered on away win do not look too tempting at the moment.

Feyenoord goalkeeper Keneth Vermeer has been called to replace Tim Krul, who had suffered an elbow injury, whilst Georginio Wijnaldum misses out though a knee problem.

Guus Hiddink is unlikely to make any changes to his starting line-up, with Robin van Persie again set to be preferred to Klaas Jan Huntelaar.

Probable starting line-up (4-3-3): Cillessen – van der Wiel, de Vrij, Martins Indi, Blind – Sneijder, de Jong, Afellay – Robben, Van Persie, Lens.

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