Belgium vs Netherlands

King Baudouin Stadium is the venue as Belgium and the Netherlands go head-to-head in their mouth-watering UEFA Nations League Group A4 curtain-raiser.

Despite scoring 2+ goals in both internationals in March, Belgium only won once (D1), though it means they enter this fixture unbeaten in four matches (W2, D2). After an underwhelming fourth-place finish in the last edition of the Nations League followed a lacklustre Euro 2020 campaign, Belgium’s ‘Golden Generation’ remain trophyless. With the time running out for Roberto Martinez’s star-studded squad, ‘De Rode Duivels’ will be looking to reclaim the number one spot in FIFA’s ranking. Though Belgium’s all-time H2H record against the Netherlands doesn’t offer much hope (W41, D31, L55), they’ll be happy to know that they are unbeaten in their last eight meetings with old foes (W6, D2). Since exiting Euro 2020, none of Belgium’s four home games have ended level (W3, L1), perhaps delivering an insight into the potential outcome.

On the other hand, the Netherlands have flourished under new boss Louis van Gaal, going undefeated in all nine international fixtures since his appointment in September 2021 (W6, D3). Excluding their disappointing Euro 2020 adventure, the ‘Oranje’ are unbeaten in their last four internationals on hostile turf (W3, D1), conceding under 1.5 goals in three of them. Much like Belgium, Van Gaal’s men suffered just one defeat in the previous Nations League campaign (W3, D2), yet they fell short one point of section-leaders Italy. On the bright side, the Netherlands have gone unbeaten in their last three matches on foreign turf (W1, D2) despite conceding the opening goal within 20 minutes in two of them.