Portugal U21 - Netherlands U21 predictions and free betting tips [24/06/2023]

On Saturday, June 24, as part of the 2nd round of the group stage of the European U21 Championship, the Portuguese national team will meet with the Dutch national team. On Wednesday evening, Rui Jorge's team suffered a sensational defeat from the tournament hosts, Georgia, with a score of 2:0, while the Dutch drew a scoreless tie with Belgium.

Estimated Lineups:

Portugal: Biai; Carlos, Amaro, Penetra, Tavares; Neves, Dantas, Almeida; Conceicao, Araujo, Neto.
Netherlands: Verbruggen; Rensch, Van Hecke, Van de Ven, Hartman; Timber, Gravenberch; Ekkelenkamp, Taylor, Summerville; Brobbey.

Stadium:

The match will take place in Tbilisi at the Mikheil Meskhi Stadium.

Portugal:

Portugal, which lost to Germany in a penalty shootout in the final of the last Euro, is again one of the favorites to win the competition despite never having won it before. However, the southerners' starting game against the tournament hosts, Georgia, turned into a nightmare. Trailing by two goals at half-time, the Portuguese failed to recover from a 2:0 score and found themselves in a difficult position in the tournament table despite dominating the game in all indicators. This defeat also ended the national team's 15-match scoring streak. "Selecao" easily took first place in their qualifying group, ahead of Iceland, Greece, Belarus, Cyprus, and Liechtenstein. The young Lusitanians also boosted their confidence in two friendly matches against Romania (0:2) and Norway (3:0) in March.

Portugal is undoubtedly one of the most competitive teams in the tournament. They can rely on goalkeeper Soares (Benfica), defender Nuno Tavares (Marseille), midfielders Dantas (PAOK), Andre Almeida (Valencia), Sousa (Porto), and Costa (Lens), as well as forwards Francisco Conceicao (Ajax, 3 goals), Araujo (Watford, 7 goals in 11 matches), Fabio Silva (PSV Eindhoven, 6 goals in 11 matches), and Vitinho (Marseille, 3 goals in 6 matches). Fabio Vieira (Arsenal) is a true star of this team, having hit the net 14 times in 23 matches for the youth team. On the other hand, Goncalo Ramos, who played an important role in the qualifying campaign and scored 12 goals, is not in the squad. Defender Tomas Araujo will be disqualified after being sent off in the match against Georgia on Wednesday evening, and defender Ze Carlos will miss the match due to an injury suffered in the second half.

Netherlands:

After missing three tournaments in a row, the Netherlands loudly declared themselves again in 2021, reaching the semi-finals, where, however, they lost to the future winners - Germany. The "Tulips" started the tournament on Wednesday against their neighbors, the Belgians, but couldn't score (0:0). Having made six saves that day, the team's goalkeeper Verbruggen was named "Man of the Match". Now, Erwin van de Looi's team leads Belgium in the table only due to disciplinary points - the Dutch received two yellow cards in the first round, while the "Red Devils" received three. During the qualifying tournament, the Oranje took the 1st place in their group, surpassing Switzerland, Moldova, Wales, Bulgaria, and Gibraltar without a single loss.

Finally, in March, the visitors dealt with Norway (3:0) and drew with the Czech Republic in friendly matches (1:1). The Dutch also have a number of interesting players who are well known to the general public. Left-back Bakker (Bayer Leverkusen), defenders Maatsen (Burnley), van de Ven (Wolfsburg), and van Hecke (Brighton), forwards Summerville (Leeds), and Dallinga (Toulouse) were included in the squad for the tournament. The Oranje also have Ekkelenkamp (Royal Antwerp), who scored 7 goals in 17 matches, and Joshua Zirkzee (Bologna), who scored 7 times in 14 matches, available in attack. Right back Rensch, who was injured in the match against Belgium, will definitely not play on Saturday.

Head-to-head meetings:

These teams have met each other eight times. In the last match, which took place in November 2020, Portugal won with a score of 2:1.

Forecast for the Portugal - Netherlands match:

The sensational defeat from Georgia leaves the Portuguese in the role of pursuers, and another failure could lead to an early departure from the tournament. The Netherlands, of course, have the right to make a mistake, but in that case, the fate of reaching the quarterfinals will no longer be in their hands. The Oranje may be less experienced than their opponents, but they have a long 16-match unbeaten streak, so I'm betting on a draw.

Total Forecast:

In six out of eight head-to-head meetings between these teams, both sides scored – so it will be on Saturday.

Corner Forecast:

Given the number of attacks and shots on goal, a plethora of corners is inevitable - I bet on the total over 9.5 corners.

Yellow Card Forecast:

The game is unlikely to be rich in warnings, as no one will want to miss the third round due to disqualification. I bet on the total yellow cards under 4.5.

Score Forecast:

I expect a lot of goals from the match and bet on the exact score 2:2.