Republic of Ireland v Netherlands predictions and betting tips for this Friday night’s International friendly ahead of Ireland’s appearance at Euro 2016 in France.
For those mourning the lack of competitive football, Euro 2016 is just around the corner. In the meantime, there are plenty of International Friendlies this weekend and on Friday night, Danny Blind and his side visit the Emerald Isle. We’ve got the best bets for the match.
Republic of Ireland vs Netherlands Overview
For those on the brink or the outskirts of the Irish squad, this could be the final chance to stake a claim. Martin O’Neill’s side face Netherlands as part of their warm up plans for Euro 2016 which begins on June 10th with France vs Romania in Paris. The boss is keeping his options open by naming a 35-man squad ahead of this test. It will be whittled down to 23 before the final warm-up match with Belarus at the end of the month.
Some familiar faces return with Jonathon Walters and Robbie Keane back in contention. The latter takes a break from the MLS with LA Galaxy to feature. Marc Wilson is once again a possibility, but Glenn Whelan’s injury is a huge blow. One surprise inclusion is Callum O’Dowda. The Oxford winger is uncapped, but has had a tremendous season for promoted Oxford and deserves his chance. David Meyler will not feature here as he has commitments with Hull City as the Tigers look to return to the Premier League in the Championship play-off final.
ROI face Sweden in their first Euro 2016 Group E fixture before tackling Belgium and Italy. A tough group for O’Neill’s squad, but they impressed in qualifying and will fancy their chances of causing an upset in France. Here, it is likely to an experimental line-up with changes a-plenty in the second half.
They are very effective at home and are unbeaten since June 2014. In International football terms, that doesn’t sound impressive, that’s 11 games without defeat (7 wins, 4 draws) and they are going to be hard to knock off their perch here. They’ve only conceded five goals in their last 11 games here and two of those were against Slovakia in March.
The 2014 World Cup finalists had a poor qualification and finished 4th thus missing out on a place at the tournament this summer. Losing twice to Iceland was damaging and Danny Blind will spend the summer preparing for the 2018 World Cup qualification campaign. Blind, who is now assisted by former Sunderland coach Dick Advocaat has named a 26 man squad which includes relegated Georgino Wijnaldum and out-of-favour Memphis Depay.
It’s just off 10 years since these sides last met with the visitors scoring four, but that was their first victory in four attempts against Ireland. Arjen Robben and Klaas Jan Huntelaar doing the damage that day.
There will be a Southampton meeting of minds as Shane Long will face Virgil Van Dijk here. Wesley Snijder has also been named in the squad and could get some game time.
Although Snijder could be categorised as the old guard, there is a promising crop of new talent which included the pacey Spartak Moscow frontman Quincy Promes, Wolfsburg’s Bas Dost and the tricky Bart Ramselaar who has impressed for FC Utrecht. The experienced head of Ron Vlaar, currently plying his trade at AZ also gets the call.
Republic of Ireland vs Netherlands Predictions
The Republic of Ireland are extremely effective here and with a cull looming ahead of the friendly with Belarus, a number of players will be looking to impress. As the hosts, they are a tempting price on the draw no bet market. They don’t get beaten here often and even saw off Germany during qualifying. My first Republic of Ireland vs Netherlands betting tip is for Republic of Ireland Draw No Bet. It can be backed at 11/8 with Sky Bet.
Shane Long had a blistering end to the season as the Saints finished as form team in the Premier League. I think that confidence can transfer to the International Stage. Although he faces teammate Virgil Van Dijk, the Netherlands haven’t been defending convincingly and he will be a handful for them. My second prediction for Republic of Ireland v Netherlands is for Shane Long to score anytime. He is 17/5 with 888Sport.
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At a much larger price, it’s worth a small gamble on the home side to win a penalty. Against Slovakia, they scored twice from the spot and the first strike against Bosnia and Herzegovina also came through the same method. My third Republic of Ireland vs Netherlands prediction is for Ireland to score a penalty. It’s 10/1 with Paddy Power.
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Republic of Ireland vs Netherlands Betting Tips
Republic of Ireland Draw No Bet – 11/8 Sky Bet.
Shane Long – Anytime Goalscorer – 17/5 888 Sport.
Ireland to score a penalty – 10/1 Paddy Power.
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Jack Critchley
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