Kick Off: 1945, 28/03/2017
Stadium: Amsterdam Arena
Italy have a great record against the Netherlands in international friendlies, winning seven and drawing the other six of their previous encounters when there was nothing to play for but pride.
Holland have to contend with the weekend dismissal of coach Danny Blind and the feeling is that the Azzurri can capitalise on having a more settled style of play.
We’re starting off our Netherlands vs Italy betting tips by taking 9/1 for a 2-1 away win in Amsterdam.
A Look At Netherlands’ Betting Odds
Netherlands have done reasonably well in international friendlies over the past couple of years, beating England, Wales, Poland and Austria, as well as drawing with the Republic of Ireland and Belgium.
There were also a couple of defeats to France and Greece, but it is worth noting that both teams managed to hit the back of the net at least once in seven of Holland’s last eight non-competitive matches.
However, after failing to qualify for Euro 2016, the Dutch fell to fourth place in their World Cup qualifying group when beaten by Bulgaria on Saturday, with Blind paying the ultimate price for that defeat and Under-21s boss Fred Grim stepping in on an interim basis.
With attack-minded players such as Arjen Robben, Memphis Depay and Vincent Janssen at his disposal, it is hoped that the caretaker manager does not live up to his name and gives those creative talents the freedom to get forward, while Kevin Strootman and Georginio Wijnaldum marshal the midfield.
Both teams to score in this game can be backed at 9/10.
A Look At Italy’s Betting Odds
Italy should be in good spirits after continuing their good start to World Cup qualifying with a 2-0 defeat of Albania on Friday night, a result which kept them joint-top of Group G alongside Spain, with 13 points picked up from five fixtures.
Gianluigi Buffon’s 1,000th career game was disrupted by flares and smoke bombs thrown by Albania fans, with an eight-minute break in play possibly affecting the rhythm of that match, but an overall tally of 13 goals in those qualifiers shows the Azzurri are firing well up front.
Italy’s record in friendlies is a little mixed and Gian Piero Ventura is expected to use this game as a chance to bring through some more of his younger players, but that may help to create an open contest.
We’re taking 23/20 for over 2.5 goals in this fixture.
Additional stats
Last result:
Bulgaria 2-0 NETHERLANDS
ITALY 2-0 Albania – Daniele De Rossi (pen), Ciro Immobile
Head-to-head: Italy 2-0 Netherlands, Netherlands 1-1 Italy, Italy 0-0 Netherlands, Netherlands 3-0 Italy, Netherlands 1-3 Italy, Netherlands 0-0 Italy
