England Faces The Netherlands In UEFA Nations League Semi Final

The UEFA Nations League is heading into it’s first ever championship weekend and one half of the finals is already set–in that game, host country Portugal beat Switzerland 3-1 thanks to a hat trick by Cristiano Ronaldo. Portugal took the lead in the 25th minute and held on to carry a 1-0 advantage into halftime. Switzerland would even the score on Ricardo Rodriguez’s penalty shot in the 57th minute and it would remain all level until the closing minutes of the game. That’s when Ronaldo took over scoring in the 88th minute and adding another in the 90th minute to put the game away.

Portugal will now await the outcome of this game between England and The Netherlands. The Netherlands have been fairly quiet on the international stage for a few years which is surprising given the level of talent that the country has produced consistently over the years. They finished third in the 2014 World Cup but their march to the semifinals of this competition could be a sign of better things to come. At the very least, they can be content with their winning Group 1 over defending World Cup Champions France and perennial powerhouse Germany. Even if the Netherlands’ needed a superior goal differential to win their group it’s quite an accomplishment.

All of a sudden England is relevant again on football’s world stage. It’s hard to argue otherwise given their run to the World Cup semifinals in 2018 and the way that English Premier League teams performed in the Champions League and Europa League this year. Manager Gareth Southgate is definitely ‘rolling the dice’ here as he plans to rest all seven players that were involved in the recent Champions League Finals including team captain Harry Kane. Raheem Sterling is expected to play a crucial role in the game–he’s scored six times in his last four international appearances–as will Marcus Rashford.

The Dutch are certainly not a pushover and one of their key defenders was last seen playing for Liverpool. Virgil van Dijk will not be kept out by manager Ronald Koeman despite his recent Champions League Finals duty. He’ll combine with 19 year old Ajax captain Matthijs de Ligt to form a first rate core defensive unit. Even so, both teams have plenty of offensive depth and with so many players coming off a long season of league and European play the fatigue could be more of an issue on defense. England’s depth looks superior and Southgate is hoping that his young stars will make him look like a genius. Here’s thinking he’s correct. With the soccer odds showing a 2.5 total the offense should carry the day and the ‘Over’ should cash.

BET ENGLAND -125 TO ADVANCE TO FINAL
BET ENGLAND/NETHERLANDS OVER 2.5 +100

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