Netherlands vs France – FIFA World Cup Qualifiers – Preview

Posted on October 10, 2016 by Sreya

Netherlands vs France – Netherlands host France at the Amsterdam Arena on 10th October, Monday in a Group A fixture of the UEFA nations’ 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifiers.

Both teams started their FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign with draws – Netherlands playing a 1-1 draw at Sweden while France drew 0-0 at Belarus. However, they followed it up with wins as France and Netherlands defeated Bulgaria and Belarus respectively by a 4-1 scoreline each.

While Netherlands are rebuilding from scratch after failing to qualify for the European Championships held earlier this year, France are trying to recover from their demoralizing loss in the finale of the same.

Team News

Danny Blind will be without the injured Wesley Sneijder and Jasper Cillessen. Bacary Sagna is France’s only injury concern.

Netherlands Possible Starting Lineup: Maarten Stekelenburg, Rick Karsdorp, Virgil van Dijk, Jeffrey Bruma, Daley Blind, Kevin Strootman, Georginio Wijnaldum, Quincy Promes,Davy Klaassen, Jordy Clasie, Vincent Janssen.

France Possible Starting Lineup: Hugo Lloris, Djibril Sidibe, Raphael Varane, Laurent Koscielny, Layvin Kurzawa, Blaise Matuidi, Paul Pogba, Moussa Sissoko, Antoine Griezmann, Dimitri Payet, Kevin Gameiro.

Thoughts From Both Camps

“The French also have their defects. They sometimes give away areas where we can use. But France are a tough opponent. Those guys are used to playing top matches every week. They are physically strong and so we will have to make a stand there straightaway.”

– Danny Blind, Netherlands.

“[Pogba] can and must do better. When he has a defensive role like that, that’s not the best for him. He has everything to do it. He did some good things, some others less good.”

– Didier Deschamps, France.

Contributor’s Pick

According to Netherlands vs France H2H stats, the last five matches have resulted in two wins for either nation and one draw. It should be a closely contested affair and a 1-1 draw is the most likely outcome of this match.