Gibraltar - Netherlands Tip 21-11-2023

We’re back with the final international break of 2023 as we continue down the road to UEFA Euro 2024. It’s safe to say that things are really starting to heat up in pretty much every group as nations qualify and make their push to reach the playoffs. Today, we’ll be taking a look at what should be an intriguing battle between Gibraltar and the Netherlands.

As a national team that is barely a decade old, it shouldn’t come as much of a surprise that Gibraltar are underdogs. It happens in just about every game they partake in and, really, so it should. They don’t really have the resources necessary to make this kind of operation work right now but in truth, it’s all about baby steps, which is why it’ll be exciting to see how things continue to develop.

Across the last few months, Gibraltar have been given some pretty substantial batterings from the likes of Greece, Wales and Ireland. However, nothing can quite compare to what happened against France as they fell to an astonishing 14-0 defeat.

The Dutch have forever been known as the bridesmaids of world football but on the European stage, they tend to be a little bit more consistent. The primary hope, moving forward, is that all of their changes behind the scenes won’t impact what they’re trying to accomplish on the pitch. After all, you could make a good argument that this is actually their best squad in years.

Following a 2-1 defeat to France last month, Netherlands needed to respond - and that’s exactly what they did. They beat Greece 1-0 just a few days later and then against the Irish, they had to dig deep in order to come away with another 1-0 victory.

For the second straight game, Gibraltar’s mission statement is a simple one - just keep the scoreline down as best as you possibly can. Unfortunately, this feels like it’s going to be another embarrassing outing for them, which is why we’re backing a Netherlands win.