France vs. Netherlands: preview and betting tips

France will kick off qualifying for EURO 2024 against the Netherlands, with whom they should be in contention for top spot. Moreover, the Dutch national team is full of question marks and the starting line-up that Ronald Koeman will send on the field will be decisive.

The Netherlands played their last game, just like the French at the World Cup, against Argentina. And both European sides fell on penalties, with the difference that France are in the final, while their opponents today are already in the quarter-finals.

Ronald Koeman has taken over the Netherlands national team since the new year and will not be able to use the services of the pair Frenkie de Jong – Denzel Dumfries that evening. Cody Gakpo, Matthijs de Ligt and Sven Botman may also remain out of the game.

The French certainly don’t have such a problem with the illness and coach Didier Deschamps will have virtually all the key men available.

That’s not the only reason why France are big favourites for this match. The fact that they have won 5 out of the last 6 matches between them also plays into their hands. However, they lost 0:2 in their last meeting, but that was in 2018.

It can be said that since then, the gap in terms of performance between the two teams has widened even more, which is confirmed by the results of the French from the last championships. Moreover, the team is constantly gaining more and more experience.

The odds for the home team to win are 1.67, which is a very acceptable value considering the strength of both teams and the possible injury of the Dutch.

However, it will be clear after the publication of the starting line-ups, when the odds can move significantly downwards, but of course also upwards.

As far as goals are concerned, the Over 2.5 at odds around 1.85 certainly offers a decent opportunity as well. The French are indeed scoring regularly and if the Dutch actually start with a weakened lineup, it could be all the more noticeable.

Sources: Whoscored, FIFA