Holland v Slovakia Betting Preview

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Written by James Beckett Saturday, 26 June 2010 14:59

After eliminating Word Cup holders Italy in their last game, Slovakia will be looking to surprise another of Europe's big boys when they take on the Netherlands in the last 16. But while Italy were desperately out of form, Holland have won all three of their games in South Africa, and Slovakia will need to play way above expectations if they are to cause another betting upset.

Vladimir Weiss' side were superb against the Italians, as a double from striker Robert Vittek helped them on their way to a famous win, but in truth the performance was a far cry from their opening two games, where they were held by New Zealand and comfortably beaten by Paraguay.

But it was a completely different story against Italy, Slovakia played with passion and commitment, and looked like a side that would take some beating, and to say this should be a comfortable game for Holland would be a drastic under estimation of the quality that Slovakia possess.

Juraj Kucka is set to keep his place after replacing Stanislav Sestak for the Italy game, whereas midfielder Zdeno Strba is back from suspension. But changes seem unlikely given the performance against the Italians, but Weiss will be hoping the sides talisman and captain Marek Hamsik can continue the form he showed against Italy.

Odds courtesy of Betfair

Holland: 1.48

Slovakia: 9

Draw: 4.6

Prediction

Holland 4-0 Slovakia

Holland send out a real message as Van Persie scores twice early on, before goals from Robben and Eljero Elias secure comfortable a place in the quarter finals

Having said that though, Holland will quite rightly go in to the game as favourites, given the vast amounts of talent they have, and now that they have Arjen Robben available once again, you would expect Holland to only improve.

Robben came on for Rafael Van der Vart in the win over Cameroon, and Van der Vart may be the man who coach Bert van Marwijk opts to leave out to fit Robben in to the side. It will be slightly harsh on Van der Vart who has had a fairly solid start to the tournament, but it will free up Wesley Sneijder who could be the key to any Dutch success in South Africa.

Sneijder has often been deployed in a wide role so far, and this isn't where he can hurt teams, given the freedom of the middle of the park, he can pull strings, and could really create chances for the likes of Dirk Kuyt and Roben van Persie.

Gregory Van Der Wiel may come back in to the side at right back in favour of former Chelsea defender Khalid Boulahrouz, but elsewhere changes seem unlikely even though six of the Dutch squad are on yellow cards.

It would appear that the Dutch team are a lot stronger now Robben is back, and even though Slovakia have managed to cause one upset already in South Africa, you have to fancy Holland to make in to the quarter finals.

Even though defensively Holland don't have the same quality as Brazil Spain, or even an England, you can't help but think that Slovakia won't pose enough of a threat and with the Dutch attacking quality, the Dutch should be looking forward to a spot in the quarter finals.