This will be the Dutch’s third home tie taking place in the Johann Cruyff Arena and they will be aiming to make home advantage count for the third consecutive game.
North Macedonia go into this tie bottom of Group C with zero points and will look to cause some form of an upset against the Dutch who sit in the first place, although they have already been knocked out.
The Dutch though have gone about their job quietly and will aim to finish the group on maximum points with three wins out of three.
In only four previous meetings there have been two draws and two wins for the Netherlands who have scored eight goals and conceded just three.
North Macedonia are 11/0 to win the game and Netherlands are 1/29 to win the game.
- Previous defensive record:
North Macedonia have conceded five goals in their last two games scoring just two, losing both games. Whereas the Netherlands have scored five goals and conceded two, winning both games.
North Macedonia’s all-time top-scorer Goran Pandev (38 goals) has featured in all four head to heads, scoring twice, he also netted their first goal at the European Championship finals. Powerful wing-back Denzel Dumfries is only the second player to score in his first two European Championship tournament games for the Netherlands after Ruud van Nistelrooy.
Misses next match if booked: Alioski, Avramovski, Trajkovski, Velkovski (North Macedonia)
Misses next match if booked: De Roon (Netherlands)
North Macedonia possible line-up: Dimitrievski; S Ristovski, Velkovski, Musliu, Nikolov; Ademi, Alioski, Bardi, Spirovski; Pandev, Elmas
Netherlands possible line-up: Dumfries, De Ligt, De Vrij, Blind, Van Aanholt; F. de Jong, Gravenberch, Wijnaldum; Depay, Malen
Managers view:
Igor Angelovski, North Macedonia: “In the second half against Ukraine we were the real North Macedonia and showed that we deserved to be at the European Championship. This is how we should play against the Dutch. We want to put on a real show and hopefully pick up our first points of the tournament.”
Frank de Boer, Netherlands: “North Macedonia really deserve to be here. They have done very well, they are well organised. And then you have this sly fox Pandev who really makes the difference. It’s great to see he still enjoys playing and can be important for his country. We can’t underestimate them so I’m not going to alter much.”
Last six form guide:
North Macedonia: LLWDWW
Netherlands: WWWDWW
North Macedonian hearts were broken in their last game against Ukraine when losing meant they had lost all hopes of qualifying, so they have nothing to lose in this tie and will go out to ensure they have scored in all three group games despite sitting bottom with zero points.
As the qualification is all but confirmed for the Dutch, Frank de Boer may choose to rotate his squad, but he has enough strength in depth to do so and come out with a win especially as they have found the net in 15 out of 17 group games at Euro finals since 1996.
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