Gareth Southgate’s side will aim to continue their excellent form as they take part in the Nations League semi-finals against rejuvenated opponents
England manager Gareth Southgate will attempt to build upon the success of the Three Lions’ World Cup 2018 campaign by winning the inaugural Nations League, with a semi-final against the Netherlands in Guimaraes their next challenge.
Fourth in Russia, England will expect to go better in Portugal this summer, though the Champions League final between Liverpool and Tottenham only five days before this fixture has been a pleasant complication for the squad.
The Dutch, meanwhile, are seeking to regain respect after failing to qualify for the World Cup and after topping a group involving world champions France, have successfully done so to some extent already.
| Game | England vs Netherlands |
| Date | Thursday, June 6 |
| Time | 7:45pm BST / 2:45pm ET |
| Stream (US) | fubo TV (7-day free trial) |
In the United States (US), the game can be watched on BeINSports and live and on-demand with fuboTV (7-day free trial).
New users can sign up for a free seven-day trial of the live sports streaming service, which can be accessed via iOS, Android, Chromecast, Amazon Fire TV, Roku and Apple TV as well as on a web browser.
| US TV channel | Online stream |
|---|---|
| ESPN2 / Univision Deportes / UniMas | fubo TV (7-day free trial) |
In the United Kingdom (UK), the game will be broadcast on Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Football. It can be streamed from Sky Go.
| UK TV channel | Online stream |
|---|---|
| Sky Sports Main Event / Sky Sports Football | Sky Go |
Raheem Sterling will captain the side on his 50th appearance for the Three Lions in the absence of regular skipper Harry Kane, who is on the bench. The other remaining six members of the squad who took part in the Champions League final – Jordan Henderson, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Joe Gomez of Liverpool and Dele Alli, Danny Rose and Eric Dier of Spurs – are also among the substitutes.
Ross Barkley, Jadon Sancho and Declan Rice also start in a side that shows five changes from their Euro 2020 qualifier against Montenegro in March.
England starting XI: Pickford, Walker, Stones, Maguire, Chilwell, Delph, Barkley, Rice, Sterling, Sancho, Rashford.
| Position | Netherlands squad |
|---|---|
| Goalkeepers | Cillessen, Vermeer, Bizot |
| Defenders | Hateboer, De Ligt, Van Dijk, Ake, Van Aanholt, De Vrij, Blind, Dumfries |
| Midfielders | Propper, Wijnaldum, De Roon, Strootman, Vilhena, Van de Beek, De Jong |
| Forwards | Bergwijn, Babel, Depay, Promes, De Jong |
Virgil van Dijk and Georginio Wijnaldum start for the Netherlands, despite turning out for Liverpool last weekend. Ajax captain Matthijs de Ligt, currently the subject of sustained transfer interest from a host of top European clubs, also starts alongside Van Dijk in the backline.
Netherlands starting XI: Cillessen, Blind, Van Dijk, De Ligt, Dumfries, De Jong, Wijnaldum, De Roon, Babel, Depay, Bergwijn.
England are slim favourites to win this match with Bet365, priced at 17/10. The Netherlands are 19/10 while a draw is available at 9/4 in a match the bookies are struggling to call.
Click here to see all of bet 365’s offers for the game, including goalscoring markets, correct score predictions and more.
England have their sights on international silverware, with the inaugural edition of the Nations League well within their grasp. According to the FIFA Ranking, Gareth Southgate’s side are the team to beat, placed at No.4, three spots ahead of hosts Portugal and 12 better than the Netherlands side they face in the semi-final on Thursday.
Moreover, this is now a group with big-tournament experience, having made a promising run to the semi-finals of the World Cup in Russia last summer, when they were ultimately unseated by Croatia, having led at one juncture.
They travelled east 12 months ago with little sense of expectation, though that has now transformed, particularly after qualifying for the Nations League final by winning a group that contained Spain and the Croats.
Ironically, perhaps the greatest barrier to the success of the international team has been the success of England’s club game, with Liverpool and Tottenham’s run to the final of the Champions League depriving Southgate of seven players until the beginning of the week.
Of course, the Dutch have had that issue, too, with Virgil van Dijk and Georginio Wijnaldum arriving to their squad late, but not to the same degree.
While England are seeking to build upon recent success, the Netherlands are in the midst of reconstructing a new era after missing out on the World Cup entirely.
Spearheaded by Van Dijk and the bright crop of Ajax youngsters that were so heartbreakingly dumped out of the Champions League at the semi-final stage by Spurs, they successfully negotiated a group containing Germany and world champions France.
They did so with fine margins, Memphis Depay’s 96th-minute penalty against Les Bleus in Rotterdam critical before two goals in the last five minutes against Germany, including a Van Dijk strike in stoppage-time, dumped Kylian Mbappe et al. out.
Ronald Koeman has the Dutch playing with the swagger that has long been expected of them, and as a player who infamously struck to effectively eliminate England from World Cup 94 qualifying, he will be seeking to deal a similar hammer blow from the dugout.
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