Overview
The Finnish team is off to an impressive start with 4 points after two matches in the journey to find a ticket to the World Cup for the first time in history.
However, the real challenge only came from the third match when they had to face the Netherlands. This is a superior opponent in class and the home team's unbeaten streak is at risk of being stopped.
Finland's positive results in recent times have mainly come from matches against weak opponents in the group such as Lithuania and Malta. In contrast, the Netherlands have won 10 and drawn 1 of their 11 meetings with Finland. This is a statistic that shows the complete dominance of the away team.
The recent form of coach Ronald Koeman's team has not been really convincing with 1 win, 3 draws and 1 loss. However, it should be noted that they have faced Spain twice and Germany once. Compared to those opponents, the match against Finland is considered a good opportunity for the Netherlands to seek victory.
The two teams will meet for the first time in 14 years. At that time, the Netherlands won 2-0 at Helsinki. A similar result is likely to appear again.
Personnel situation
The experienced midfielder, Roman Eremenko, has been withdrawn from the Finnish squad due to injury. However, Matias Siltanen and Tommi Jyry may make their first appearances.
The four pillars of Finland, Lukas Hradecky, Teemu Pukki, Joel Pohjanpalo and Robin Lod, were all present. In particular, Hradecky will likely start and become the sixth Finnish player to reach 100 caps for the national team.
On the other side of the front line, a number of famous stars have been left out of the Dutch squad, including the Manchester United duo Matthijs de Ligt and Joshua Zirkzee. Nathan Ake has returned from injury.
Expected lineup:
Finland: Hradecky, Alho, Toi, Ivanov, Uronen, Kairinen, Kamara, Lod, Antman, Pohjanpalo, Kallman.
Netherlands: Flekken, Dumfries, Van Hecke, Van Dijk, Ake, Reijnders, De Jong, Kluivert, Simons, Gakpo, Weghorst.
The match between Finland and the Netherlands takes place at 1:45 am on June 8 (Vietnam time).
