We have 3 fixtures to look forward to on Sunday the 13th of June at the European Championship. One of which takes place at the Johan Cruijff Arena, Amsterdam, as Netherlands meet Ukraine in Group C.
With Austria and North Macedonia completing the group, both teams will believe they have a good chance of progressing to the knockout stages.
🤹♂️🤹♂️ @Memphis x @DeJongFrenkie21 #EURO2020 #NED pic.twitter.com/Qg9VGB3Lfv— OnsOranje (@OnsOranje) June 8, 2021
🤹♂️🤹♂️ @Memphis x @DeJongFrenkie21 #EURO2020 #NED pic.twitter.com/Qg9VGB3Lfv
Netherlands come into the match having defeated Georgia 3-0 in a friendly game. That result means Netherlands are on a 4 match unbeaten run including victories over Latvia and Gibraltar in 2022 World Cup qualifying.
However, there have been some disappointing results recently including the 4-2 loss against Turkey in World Cup qualifying and the 2-2 draw against Scotland in a friendly match, with Netherlands needing a late goal to avoid defeat.
However, Netherlands have been difficult to beat and they have lost only one of their last 10 matches in all competitions. The Dutch finished second in their European Championship qualifying group behind Germany, with a defeat at home against the Germans being the only defeat during the campaign.
You must go back to 2012 to find the last time Netherlands participated in the European Championship and they suffered defeats in each of their 3 group games against Denmark, Germany, and Portugal.
Ukraine enjoyed a tremendous European Championship qualifying campaign and they finished top of a group containing defending champions Portugal.
Ukraine won 6 of their 8 qualifying games, remaining undefeated throughout and defeated Portugal 2-1 at home plus picked up a point in a 0-0 draw away against the Portuguese.
Ukraine come into the tournament on the back of a 6 match unbeaten run. Included in those 6 games is a 1-1 draw away from home against France in 2022 World Cup qualifying plus victories over Northern Ireland and Cyprus in friendly matches.
Having drawn with France in World Cup qualifying, Ukraine suffered a couple of disappointing results as they were held by both Finland and Kazakhstan at home.
Ukraine played in the 2016 European Championship but were eliminated at the group stage. They lost each of their 3 group games, with defeats coming against Germany, Northern Ireland, and Poland.
Scoring goals has been a problem for Ukraine at the European Championship and they have failed to score in each of their last 5 fixtures in the competition.
Team news and Netherlands will be counting on the goals of Memphis Depay, who has been in good form. Georginio Wijnaldum will captain the team from midfield and there will be pressure on Matthijs de Ligt at the back, with Virgil van Dijk injured.
Ukraine do not have a huge number of goals in their team and Andriy Yarmolenko is by far their greatest goal threat. Goalkeeper, Andriy Pyatov, is the oldest member of the squad plus captain of the team and there are plenty of players from the Ukraine domestic league.
Netherlands are the clear favourites to win Group C and they should begin their campaign with a victory over Ukraine.
It would be a confidence boost to the Dutch if they could keep a clean sheet in this match and with Ukraine lacking a goal threat, Netherlands could come through this game with a 2-0 win.