Is the Oranje already in World Cup form?
The Elftal, considered one of the favorites in World Cup predictions, has two more friendlies to put the finishing touches on their preparations before the World Cup kicks off. As expected, the Dutch are also favored in my Netherlands vs. Algeria prediction for their penultimate friendly before the World Cup begins.
The Dutch team’s upcoming opponent will play its final friendly before the World Cup this coming Wednesday. After that, Vladimir Petkovic’s team won’t kick off the tournament until June 17 against defending champions Argentina. The World Cup schedule couldn’t have been any tougher for Les Fennecs. In any case, the two-time African champions are not the favorites at the start of the tournament. Nor does our Netherlands vs. Algeria prediction see the Africans in a favorite role.
Despite the painful injury-related absences of Matthijs de Ligt and Xavi Simons, who will also be unavailable for the World Cup finals, I expect the Oranje to prevail in the upcoming match. Furthermore, given the high quality of the hosts’ offense, I expect the Elftal to score more than one goal.
Netherlands – Algeria Head-to-Head Record
A true first in international soccer history awaits both teams.
Netherlands – Algeria Prediction
The Dutch dominated their qualifying tournament for the 23rd FIFA World Cup at will. With six wins, two draws, and a goal difference of 27:4, Ronald Koeman’s team made a strong statement and underscored that the Oranje will be a force to be reckoned with at the final tournament.
Therefore, Koeman’s squad must now get into World Cup form and approach the upcoming World Cup warm-ups against Algeria and Uzbekistan with the utmost seriousness. Given the urgency, I don’t expect national team coach Ronald Koeman to make any major lineup experiments. He will most likely start with his best possible lineup against Algeria.
The Oranje’s last friendly ended in a draw against Ecuador due to a very early red card for Inter Milan star Denzel Dumfries. Prior to that, however, the Oranje had four wins in five international matches, during which Koeman’s squad scored 15 goals.
Algeria had a similarly dominant qualifying campaign as the Dutch in Group G of the African World Cup qualifiers. Although it must be emphasized that the draw was kind to Les Fennecs in this group. Eight wins, one draw, one loss, and a goal difference of 24:8 speak volumes about the dominance of Vladimir Petkovic’s team in qualifying.
At the last major tournament, the Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco, however, Algeria was eliminated in the quarterfinals against Nigeria. This underscores that, despite a strong World Cup qualifying campaign, the two-time African champions are not currently among the absolute top teams on the African continent.
Despite having Bundesliga stars like Ibrahim Maza and the currently injured Ramy Bensebaini on the roster, the Algerian squad is worth only about a quarter as much as that of their upcoming friendly opponent. I expect this difference to show up this coming Wednesday in Rotterdam, and I’m betting on a home win for the Netherlands against Algeria.
However, since Algeria brings a certain level of quality to the table and recently managed to hold Uruguay to a scoreless draw, I also don’t expect a blowout victory for the Oranje. Therefore, the bet on a Dutch win can be combined with a bet on fewer than four goals in the match.
