Netherlands v Austria betting tips: Group C rivals eye knockout stage
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Holland and Austria can go one step closer to securing their places in the last 16 of the European Championship when they wrap up Thursday’s action in Amsterdam.
Both teams recorded opening Group C victories, with the Dutch edging Ukraine in a 3-2 thriller and Austria eventually coming out on top against debutants North Macedonia.
Holland are 4/7 to make it seven straight wins against Osterreich as we look at some of the other markets that form our Netherlands v Austria betting tips.
Match Odds
Frank de Boer’s team made hard work of their European Championship opener against Ukraine during which they squandered a 2-0 lead with 15 minutes to go only for Denzel Dumfries to score his first international goal in the 85th minute to spare their blushes.
Holland have been slow burners in recent matches, with three of their previous matches seeing under 1.5 first-half goals – priced at 4/9 – while they have also been level at the break in two of the last three, which is 6/5 to happen again.
Ons Oranje were in goalscoring form during qualification, with Georginio Wijnaldum averaging one goal a game from eight matches and Memphis Depay grabbing six goals.
The Dutch scored an average of three per game, which is 9/4 for Holland to score over 2.5 goals, while it is 5/4 for the hosts to win and three or more match goals.
Austria, who are 24/5 outsiders in Amsterdam, were also level at half-time against North Macedonia and the draw, which would help both teams’ cause, can be backed at 3/1.
Talking Tactics
Holland surprised pundits in their opening Euro 2020 game with a 3-5-2 formation as De Boer switched from his traditional 4-3-3 system.
The Dutch looked uncomfortable despite the extra cover in defence during a frenetic first half, but the lack of shield from midfield proved to be their downfall in the second half as Ukraine fought back from 2-0 down to draw level.
The advantage of the shape saw wing-backs Patrick van Aanholt and Dumfries get into the opposition box, with the latter netting the winner, but Holland may return to their familiar system.
Austria also adopted a 3-5-2 shape with captain David Alaba sitting in the heart of the defence which the deployed against Scotland in World Cup qualifying.
The versatility of Alaba means he can play almost anywhere across the pitch and boss Franco Foda may choose to stick with the shape to match up with Holland, if they continue with the experiment.
Goalscorer Odds
Austria went into their opener against North Macedonia on a run of three games without scoring before Stefan Lainer broke the deadlock with a cool finish after 18 minutes.
Stuttgart striker Sasa Kalajdzic has three goals in eight caps and is likely to lead the line once again, priced at 6/1 to score first and 13/5 in the anytime goalscorer market.
Former West Ham forward Marko Arnautovic – who replaced Kalajdzic after 59 minutes – wrapped up the scoring but has been handed a one-match ban for insulting an opponent and misses the game, while fellow substitute Michael Gregoritsch is 16/5 to score at any time, like he did in matchday one.
Holland captain Wijnaldum scored against Austria in their last head-to-head meeting in June 2016 and the midfielder is priced at 14/5 to breach the defence and 13/2 to open the scoring, like he did against Ukraine.
Wout Weghorst scored his second international goal on Sunday and can be backed at 7/2 in the first goalscorer market and 8/5 at any time, with striker partner Depay priced as the favourite in both markets at 3/1 and 11/10 respectively.
Match Info
Where: Johan Cruijff ArenA, Amsterdam
When: 20:00, Thursday 17th June
How to watch: BBC 1
All odds and markets correct as of date of publication
