With the ultimate goal of winning the UEFA Nations League and ending their long wait for a trophy, the Netherlands begin their new campaign on Saturday, when they take on Bosnia-Herzegovina in Eindhoven.
League A Group 3 also features Germany and Hungary, so neither team can afford to fall behind - especially as finishing third or fourth could result in relegation.
Latest Netherlands vs Bosnia-Herzegovina team information
Ronald Koeman has made changes to the Netherlands squad since their Euro 2024 exit, with midfielders Marten de Roon and Georginio Wijnaldum announced they would not be called up, Daley Blind announced his international retirement, and two key forwards left out of the squad.
In addition to criticising Steven Bergwijn's recent move to the Saudi Pro League, star striker Memphis Depay remains without a club and Koeman has also left the 46-goal scorer out of the squad.
As a result, Brian Brobbey is now the leading candidate to start up front, although Joshua Zirkzee and Wout Weghorst are also candidates – or another Premier League player, Liverpool's Cody Gakpo, could take on the false nine role.
Micky van de Ven and Joey Veerman both withdrew through injury, so Jan Paul van Hecke and Justin Kluivert were called up as replacements.
Meanwhile, Bosnia could call upon all-time leading scorer Edin Dzeko (65 international goals), after the veteran striker missed the last match through injury.
Ajax midfielder Benjamin Tahirovic could feature in midfield, alongside Rade Krunic, formerly of AC Milan but now playing for Red Star Belgrade.
Atalanta BC's Sead Kolasinac is the visitors' most experienced defender, and he could feature in a back three on Saturday night.
Latest predicted lineup for Netherlands vs Bosnia-Herzegovina
Netherlands:
Verbruggen; Dumfries, De Ligt, Van Dijk, Ake; Schouten, Gravenberch; Malen, Simons, Gakpo; Brobbey
Bosnia-Herzegovina:
Piric; Radeljic, Ahmedhodzic, Katic, Bicakcic, Kolasinac; Gigovic, Krunic, Tahirovic, Hajradinovic; Dzeko
Latest football commentary Netherlands vs Bosnia-Herzegovina
After entering the "weaker" side of the drawing board at this summer's Euro 2024 finals - only getting out of Group D in third place - the Netherlands crushed Romania in the last 16 and then eliminated Turkey to set up a semi-final against England.
However, they left Germany - where they were crowned European champions 36 years ago - on a sour note, as Ollie Watkins' late goal following a controversial Three Lions equaliser saw them eliminated.
The Oranje also last met England when they almost won the title, winning 3-1 after extra time in the first Nations League semi-final in 2019 - and current coach Ronald Koeman was in the dugout that time too.
However, the Dutch team were unlucky and eventually finished second, losing 1–0 to Portugal in the final, and they finished fourth when they last hosted the tournament.
To get there, they topped a relatively easy group containing Belgium, Poland and Wales, but this season even a top-two finish would be enough to secure a place in the new Nations League quarter-finals.
With Virgil van Dijk determined to continue as captain, Koeman's squad will have the same skipper for this month's games against Bosnia and old rivals Germany, the latter of which will be played next Tuesday.
Bosnia-Herzegovina last met this week's hosts in the pandemic-delayed edition of the Nations League, suffering a 3-1 away defeat before holding them to a goalless draw at home at the end of 2020.
They face Oranje again this season, having beaten Finland, Montenegro and Romania to top their League B group last time out, which saw them celebrate promotion to Europe's top flight.
However, the Dragons were unable to continue that momentum in Euro 2024 qualifying, finishing fifth in a six-team group, with two of their three wins coming against minnows Liechtenstein.
Although their performance in the Nations League still secured Bosnia a play-off place, they lost 2–1 in the semi-final to Ukraine, leading to the departure of head coach Savo Milosevic.
Sergej Barbarez then took over and was in charge in June's friendly defeats to Italy and England; now he leads his side against similarly-ranked opponents on Saturday.
With a third-place finish in Group 3 leading to a relegation play-off, and fourth place meaning automatic relegation, Barbarez will be hoping to pick up a point in Eindhoven before travelling to Hungary next week. While the Netherlands almost reached the Euro finals in July, Bosnia failed to qualify for Euro 2024 amid a string of poor results.
Therefore, Oranje should easily overcome their first opponent in Group 3 at home, helping them prepare well for the heavyweight match against Germany next week.
Netherlands vs Bosnia-Herzegovina score prediction
Based on the above football comments, we and the world's leading football sites have given the following results for the Netherlands vs Bosnia-Herzegovina match:
- Sportsmole: Netherlands 3-0 Bosnia-Herzegovina
- WhoScore: Netherlands 3-1 Bosnia-Herzegovina
- Our prediction: Netherlands 3-0 Bosnia-Herzegovina
When and where to watch Netherlands vs Bosnia-Herzegovina live?
To watch the live match between Netherlands and Bosnia-Herzegovina in the Nations League taking place at 1:45 a.m. on September 8, viewers can watch on TV360 here, Mytv system here or on online sports channels. Wishing viewers happy moments of watching football.
Source: https://baodaknong.vn/nhan-dinh-du-doan-ha-lan-vs-bosnia-herzegovina-doi-bom-keo-duoi-228516.html
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