Nations League Semifinals Preview
With the 2022/2023 season coming to an end, we are diving right into the international action! 4 teams will battle it out for the Nations League glory, with the semifinals taking place this week!
Netherlands set their Group on fire to make it to the knock-out stages – finishing 1st and 6 points clear from Belgium in 2nd. After World Cup exit, the Dutchmen took a 4-0 beating against France but followed it up with a 3-0 victory over Gibraltar in the EURO 2024 qualifiers. To their advantage, Netherlands are playing on home soil, and out of their 9 Nations League home fixtures have only lost once to Italy in 2020. Considering their superior form at home, they will be the favourites here.
Croatia topped their Group with just 1 point clear of Denmark. After securing bronze at the World Cup, the Croatians drew against Wales and beat Turkey in their effort to qualify for the 2024 EURO campaign. Croatia has also beaten the likes of France and Denmark in the Nations League group stages, therefore are likely to give the Dutchmen a challenge. However, considering Koeman & Co.`s home form, we expect Netherlands to win in a close game, with under 2.5 goals.
A colossal clash all will be watching. The Italians have shown little consistency despite missing the World Cup, going into the semifinals on the back of a 1-2 defeat to England and a 2-0 victory over Malta in the EURO 2024 qualifiers. Still, Italy finished on top of Group 3 in the Nations League, 1 point from Hungary. The pressure will certainly be on Italy considering their recent misfortunes, and it will be interesting to see if they will prevail away from home.
The Spaniards have won just 1 out of their last 5 in all competitions. Spain secured a desperate knock-out spot in the WC, although quickly tumbled against Morocco. They went on to show promise in the EURO Qualifiers with a 2-0 victory over Norway and followed up with a 2-0 loss against Scotland. Spain have beaten Italy in their last Nations League semifinals bout in 2021, and Italy`s last win against Spain came back in 2016. Both sides seem shaky at the moment, therefore, we expect both teams to score and over 2.5 goals in the game.
Have a great week head!