Netherlands go into the knockout stages buoyed by some strong performances in the group phase, and they are rightly considered favourites to defeat Mexico.

However, this match will be anything but a walk in the park for Oranje considering that El Tri have been pretty impressive themselves so far.

There was much riding on the opening match against holders Spain for the Netherlands as they would have been in a difficult position had they lost the match.

And they almost went two goals behind as David Silva missed a great chance to make it 2-0, but a stunning comeback ensured Oranje recorded a 5-1 triumph that will long remain regarded as one of their best ever World Cup performances.

A hard-fought victory over Australia secured qualification to the next stage, before Netherlands also won the battle for the first place in the group against Chile, ensuring they avoided hosts Brazil in the first knockout round.

And while Mexico seem to be on top of their game as well, Oranje have been made 2.15 (23/20) favourites to win the game in regular time.

Louis van Gaal’s charges will be buoyed by the return of Robin van Persie from a one-match ban, with the Manchester United striker 2.67 (5/3) to score anytime.

Bruno Martins Indi remains an injury doubt having failed to recover from a concussion, but Leroy Fer is definitely out.

Probable starting line-up (5-3-2): Cillessen – Janmaat, Veltman, Vlaar, de Vrij, Blind – Wijnaldum, de Jong, Sneijder – Van Persie, Robben.

Mexico were not exactly tipped to progress from Group A following a dreadful qualifying campaign, with defeats to Bosnia and Portugal in final warm-up games only adding to the worries.

But, little did football fans know that coach Miguel Herrera had made his stamp on the team, having quickly sorted out all the issues to ensure El Tri got off to a perfect start.

Mexico largely impressed in the group stage, defeating Cameroon before sharing spoils with hosts Brazil, but they still needed at least a point from the final group fixture against Croatia in order to qualify.

El Tri duly delivered as they produced a very good defensive performance before scoring three second-half goals and narrowly missed out on the first place in the group.

This has seen them pitted against Netherlands in the Last 16 stage, but there will be quite a few punters backing Mexico to go through at 2.63 (13/8).

Colourful coach Miguel Herrera will not be able to field the same starting line-up in fourth successive match seeing as how midfielder Juan Vazquez is suspended, with Carlos Pena likely to take his place.

Probable starting line-up (5-3-2): Ochoa – Aguilar, Rodriguez, Marquez, Moreno, Layun – Herrera, Pena, Guardado – Peralta, Dos Santos.