Latvia vs Netherlands

The Netherlands head to the Daugavas Stadionā to take on Baltic minnows Latvia in a must-win World Cup qualifying match.

Barring a 3-1 home victory over fellow group minnows Gibraltar in September, Latvia have generally fulfilled their status of group whipping boys thus far. After accruing just five points from their opening six Group G fixtures (W1, D2, L3), Latvia’s chances of securing their first World Cup finals appearance as a sovereign nation are already doomed. Though their opponents no longer have the same fear factor as in the past, the ’11 Wolves’ harbor a justifiable concern here, having lost their last four competitive H2Hs by an aggregate score of 13-0. On top of that, the Baltic outsiders lament an embarrassing aggregate goal record (GF:1, GA:15) across their previous four meetings with nations ranked inside FIFA’s #20. So it’s hard to make a case for Latvia not suffering another heavy defeat here.

In the meantime, Louis van Gaal has started his third managerial spell at the Dutch national team with a 1-1 away draw with Norway. However, he has guided the Netherlands to a brace of overwhelming triumphs over Montenegro and Turkey since then, winning those two World Cup qualifying fixtures by an aggregate score of 10-1. After failing to qualify for the 2018 World Cup, the ‘Flying Dutchmen’ are keen to avoid a similar scenario this time around. With four group stage matches left to go, the Netherlands sit atop Group G, though they are level on points with second-placed Norway, meaning they have no margin for error here. Adding to their confidence, the visitors are unbeaten in their last three competitive away games (W2, D1), with both of those wins coming by 3+ goals ‘to nil.’