Pre-match comments Netherlands vs Lithuania
In the first leg, the Orange Storm had a difficult time against Lithuania and could only win by a narrow margin. But tonight, the Netherlands has the home advantage and of course, they need an impressive result to officially qualify for the 2026 World Cup. Therefore, there is no reason why the Netherlands should not defeat Lithuania overwhelmingly.
Ronald Koeman has made a strong impression with the Dutch national team, just like he did in his first term. In the current qualifying round, the Netherlands are still unbeaten, having won 17 points from 7 matches. Now, the Netherlands only need 1 more point to secure a ticket to the World Cup.
While qualifying hasn’t been perfect, with some stumbles, like the draw with Poland, the statistics still show that the Netherlands have been convincing. They have scored an average of 3.29 goals per game and conceded just 0.57. Among the top scorers, Memphis Depay stands out with 8 goals and 4 assists, along with Cody Gakpo (3 goals, 3 assists) and Denzel Dumfries (2 goals, 3 assists).
To create such impressive numbers, it must be admitted that the Netherlands are operating very effectively thanks to a mobile midfield with Frenkie de Jong and Ryan Gravenberch. Not only do they control the midfield well, they often launch sharp passes to the front line.
Form, history of confrontations between Netherlands and Lithuania
On the other side of the field, Lithuania have not won a single match in the current qualifying round, with 3 draws and 4 losses. Lithuania averages 0.86 goals per game and concedes 1.57. It is understandable that Edgaras Jankauskas’s team is at the bottom of the group. Their last victory was in June 2024, when they beat Latvia 2-0 in the Baltic Cup semi-finals. But that was a small tournament, where the teams were not very competitive. So it does not say much.
Head coach Edgaras Jankauskas has been in charge of the team since 2023. During his tenure, he aimed to build a well-structured squad, develop long-term and be able to compete with strong teams. But after 2 years, that ambition seems to have stopped.
Currently, Lithuania is not even ranked among the mid-table teams. The team is only ranked a modest 146th in the world rankings. The total market value of their squad is recorded at 17.33 million euros. Interestingly, the average age of the Lithuanian team is 28, which is not ideal for long-term prospects.
That is the long-term view, but in the short term, Lithuania’s problem is how to stop the stormy Dutch attack. It seems that tonight, they will suffer a terrible scenario…
Netherlands vs Lithuania team information
The Netherlands are without a number of players. Kilindshi Hartman (cold), Jeremie Frimpong (hamstring), Denzel Dumfries (ankle) and Wout Weghorst (foot) are all out tonight. But their opponents are not much easier. Among the injured players for Lithuania are Armantas Kusas (knee) and Kipras Kazukolovas (knee).
Expected lineup Netherlands vs Lithuania
Netherlands: Verbruggen, Geertruida, Timber, Van Dijk, Van de Ven, Gravenberch, De Jong, Malen, Kluivert, Gakpo & Depay.
Lithuania : Svedkauskas; Sirvys, Armalas, Tutyskinas, Utkus, Lasickas, Kalinauskas, Gineitis, Sirgedas, Cernych & Golubickas.
Score prediction: Netherlands 4-1 Lithuania
Source: https://tienphong.vn/nhan-dinh-ha-lan-vs-lithuania-02h45-ngay-1811-dinh-doat-tam-ve-post1796852.tpo
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