The Netherlands and Bulgaria Continue Chase for a World Cup Placement
Published March 25, 2017 by Florin P
Bulgaria tries to cause another major upset against the Netherlands when the Dutch come to Sofia (7:45 p.m UK Time).
The Netherlands missed from Euro 2016 in one of the biggest upsets ever suffered by the team in the qualifiers. They don’t want to repeat that terrible performance in the qualifiers for the World Cup and are poised to win this fixture. The Dutch will travel to Bulgaria, a team that is also hungry for international matches and currently trailing the leader of Group A by six points.
A Point Doesn't Help Bulgaria
With only two teams qualifying to the World Cup, Bulgaria can’t settle for a point even though they play against the Netherlands. The Eastern Europeans are four points behind leading France and are locked in a fierce fight with Sweden and the Dutch. They secured two narrow margin victories at home against Luxembourg and Belarus, but failed to impress in any of these games.
The hosts are under tremendous pressure now that they need to come out firing against a team that is dangerous on counter attacks. Bulgaria will take more precautions in the first half and count on Tonev to score goals. The fact that their best striker plays for a team competing in the Italian second division speaks volumes about Bulgaria’s weakness.
The Last Chance for Sneijder and Robben
The Russian World Cup is likely to be the last for the talented midfielders who took the Netherlands to a final against Spain. If their team failed to qualify, they will miss their last opportunity to playing the most important football competition in the world. The group is weak enough as to grant them favorite status, at least for securing the second-place.
The Netherlands lost a single match, at home against France and can now tie them for the lead with a victory over Bulgaria. The visitors will throw everything they’ve got and ignore the fact that they don’t have home pitch advantage. Punters should do the same and take the odds of 3/5 offered by bet365 Sports on a road victory.
