Netherlands vs Peru Predictions

By the standards of international friendlies this could be a good one between a Peru side that won plenty of friends if not many points at the 2018 World Cup and a Dutch team that is desperate to get back to the main stage. Euro 2020 qualification will be their absolute minimum goal and their preparations for that tournament properly kick off here.

They have a tough UEFA Nations League group to contend with too and it’s a bit of a mystery how they’ve ended up in the top tier of that competition given they’ve failed to qualify for either of the last two major tournaments. There are finally a few players coming through that Holland fans may be able to get a little excited about with midfielder Frenkie de Jong of Ajax potentially making his debut here having been strongly linked with Barcelona this summer.

As for Peru, they enjoyed their first World Cup appearance since 1982 but they were still eliminated after just two games, with defeats against France and Denmark. They may feel as though they have something to prove against European opposition here and they will now be starting to think about Copa America next year in Brazil.

Overall though this looks a fairly depleted squad from the one that did impress to some extent at the World Cup. There’s no Paolo Guerrero while midfielders Renato Tapia and Paolo Hurtado are also absent. Their squad includes 5 uncapped players and a further 7 who are yet to make it to ten caps and it just feels a little too experimental given they have two very tough friendlies against the Dutch and Germany over the new few days.

Holland have a competitive game against France coming up at the weekend so it’s a much more business-like approach from them and more of a blend of youth and experience with 34 year old Wesley Sneijder included as well as some of the emerging talents. The Dutch haven’t been that bad over the past twelve months by any means which suggests they are improving. Their defeat to England in March is their only defeat in their last 9 matches and that includes impressive 3-0 wins over the likes of Romania and Portugal.

They will really want to set the right tone here as they prepare for competitive football again and Ronald Koeman’s men look capable of sweeping aside a Peru team that is missing some important players and may be more interested in experimenting. Overall backing Holland & Over 2.5 Goals looks pretty good here.