Latvia – Netherlands Predictions, Odds and Betting Tips – 08.10.2021

⚽ Latvia – Netherlands Predictions

Latvia – Netherlands Tips and Odds. October 8, 19:45 World Cup – Qualification.

Latvia – Netherlands Preview

Even though Latvia are unbeaten in three of their last four World Cup Qualifiers (WCQ – W1, D2, L1), this looks like mission impossible for the minnows who are looking to overcome a Netherlands side ranked 124 places above them by FIFA. The height of Latvia’s achievements is their many Baltic Cup trophies, but that’s unlikely to strike fear into Dutch hearts ahead of this clash.
An unexpected win would see Latvia break their points return from the 2018 WCQ campaign, though that is highly unlikely against a side that they’ve failed to score against in four attempts (L4). Not only this, but the hosts have a rather miserable aggregate goal record (GF1, GA15) across their last four matches against teams ranked inside FIFA’s #20, therefore it’s hard to look beyond another big defeat here.
Dutch boss Louis van Gaal will see this game as a must win given they face the second lowest-ranked side in Group G, and because there’s just two points separating the top-three ahead of kick off. With their failure to qualify for the 2018 World Cup still fresh in the memory, there’ll be an added motivation to avoid any slip up here.
This clash should realistically be a formality for the ‘Flying Dutchmen’ who have scored ten goals across their last two WCQ games. Strengthening their position further is the fact that no UEFA nation ranked outside of the top 100 has kept a Netherlands side managed by Van Gaal from scoring at least twice (3.6 scored per match on average).
Players to watch: Vladislavs Gutkovskis contributed to a goal in four of his last five club appearances and hit a second-half double for Latvia in September. As for the Dutch, Memphis Depay leads the group in terms of goal contributions (seven goals, three assists) – six of those came across his last two WCQ games!
Hot stat: Nine of the Netherlands’ last ten games won/lost were settled via a 2+ goal margin.