Preview: Netherlands vs. Turkey – prediction, team news, lineups – Sports Mole
Fighting it out for a place in the Euro 2024 semi-finals, the Netherlands and Turkey meet at Berlin’s iconic Olympiastadion on Saturday evening.
Victory would set up a clash with either Switzerland or England in the final four, and after coming through the previous round in contrasting fashion, both teams will fancy their chance of progressing.
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Despite an unconvincing start to their latest European Championship campaign, the Netherlands have safely secured a place in the Euro 2024 quarter-finals – and they now have an eye on the Henri Delaunay trophy, which is just three wins away from their grasp.
Ronald Koeman‘s side find themselves among the favourites in the so-called ‘weaker’ half of the draw, having only emerged from Group D in third place following victory over Poland, a stalemate with France and a 3-2 defeat to Austria.
Handed a relatively kind last-16 tie against Romania, the Oranje ultimately ran out 3-0 winners, and it could easily have been more: they had 50 touches inside the Romanian area – the highest number recorded by a Netherlands team on record.
The Dutch broke the deadlock courtesy of Cody Gakpo‘s 20th-minute strike in Munich, and after passing up a series of chances, it was left to second-half substitute Donyell Malen to bag a late brace and finally seal the deal.
Now, Koeman is honing in on repeating a feat from his playing days, when he was part of the squad that produced the Netherlands’ only major men’s trophy to date: a European Championship winner in 1988, the former Barcelona boss is intent on doing it all again 36 years later as head coach.
With Xavi Simons starting to fulfil his potential, and Gakpo picking up two ‘Man of the Match’ awards and in contention for the Golden Boot, Oranje fans are starting to dream; however, Saturday’s opponents have already proven their mettle. 
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Kicking off their last-16 contest with the European Championship’s fastest-ever knockout round goal, Turkey were quickly on course for the quarter-finals when they met fellow dark horses Austria on Tuesday evening.
Having only scored twice in 47 previous international appearances, centre-back Merih Demiral then doubled his tally during the course of one match – but the Austrians bit back and were within a whisker of taking a pulsating game into extra time.
Only a moment of Mert Gunok magic denied Ralf Rangnick‘s team the chance to take the tie into an additional period, as Turkey’s goalkeeper flew across his goal to make an incredible last-gasp save that seemed to defy all logic.
The Crescent-Stars were missing captain Hakan Calhanoglu following their disciplinary meltdown against the Czech Republic during the group stage, but Real Madrid star Arda Guler again showed his promise as an integral cog in his national side.
The latter joined Kenan Yildiz in a young starting XI selected by Vincenzo Montella – the first time that two teenagers had ever started together during the knockout phase – but Turkey’s Italian coach now has more suspensions to deal with; furthermore, several players will be walking the tightrope of being one booking from missing out on the semis.
First, though, they must make it past the Netherlands – who they met twice in qualifying for Qatar 2022, with both nations emerging triumphant on home turf – to reach the Euros’ final four for just a second time in Turkish football history.
Following a superb start in their exciting 3-1 win over Georgia – then defeat to Portugal – and a late victory over the Czech Republic, Montella’s men came up with another thriller in Leipzig, so neutrals will expect to be entertained again this weekend.
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After his team’s fluent performance in the win over Romania, Ronald Koeman is likely to select a very similar XI on Saturday night, with Bart Verbruggen in goal and Virgil van Dijk captaining the side from centre-back.
However, Steven Bergwijn was substituted at half time due to an injury, so either Jeremie Frimpong or Donyell Malen – the latter of whom made a big impact after emerging from the bench – could link up with Denzel Dumfries on the right flank.
Two men sure to start up front are Liverpool forward Cody Gakpo – scorer of three goals in four Euro 2024 appearances so far – and Memphis Depay, who is just four strikes short of Robin van Persie‘s all-time Oranje record (50).
Meanwhile, Turkey can welcome back influential skipper Hakan Calhanoglu, but two more midfielders must now serve a suspension: Orkun Kokcu will miss out on playing against the country of his birth, and Ismail Yuksek is also sidelined after receiving two bookings.
It remains to be seen whether Tuesday’s hero Merih Demiral will be sanctioned by UEFA for his controversial celebrations, so Samet Akaydin is on standby to fill in at the back.
Nineteen-year-old duo Kenan Yildiz and Arda Guler are among no fewer than eight men at risk of missing a potential semi-final, but boss Vincenzo Montella will not be mulling over such matters ahead of such a crucial match.
Netherlands possible starting lineup:
Verbruggen; Dumfries, De Vrij, Van Dijk, Ake; Schouten, Reijnders; Malen, Simons, Gakpo; Depay
Turkey possible starting lineup:
Gunok; Muldur, Demiral, Bardakci, Kadioglu; Ayhan, Yokuslu; Yildiz, Calhanoglu, Yilmaz; Guler
Both teams can be explosive in attack and vulnerable in defence, so even with the stakes so high, goals are likely to come along sooner or later.
Though Turkey will be backed by a huge ‘home’ following in Germany, where many fans of Turkish heritage reside, the Netherlands appear to be finding some rhythm and may just edge a tight contest in the capital.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
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