Portugal v Netherlands: Correct Score Tip

I’m going to give Netherlands one last opportunity to show why they were so many people’s tip for glory before Euro 2012 began 9 days ago. They require a victory by a two-goal margin over Portugal, while hoping Germany see off Denmark. It’s a tall order but I think they can pull off a 3-1 win at best odds of 20/1 with BetVictor.

Two things help me to keep faith with the Oranje. Firstly, they are having a lot of shots on goal. The problem has been that up till now, an astonishing percentage of those efforts have been off target. They have gone high, wide and generally not too handsome on 27 occasions in two matches. An average of 13.5 wayward efforts is something that no other team in the competition can rival.

So the positive spin on this has to be that they are creating opportunities in dangerous areas. If they actually bring their shooting boots along with them on Sunday then they have a chance. This brings us to the second grounds for Dutch optimism. They were much improved in the second half against Germany and Robin Van Persie finally broke his duck.

We’ve already seen what one goal did for the confidence of Fernando Torres, and Bert van Marwijk will be desperately hoping for a similar transformation from the Arsenal man. Regardless, we all know that Netherlands have an abundance of attacking talent. It’s just a case of them performing to their potential.

If the Dutch can get their noses in front early on then this could be a very lively encounter. Portugal showed defensive vulnerability in an otherwise impressive 3-2 win over Denmark. I can’t see either side keeping a clean sheet, but if the real Netherlands finally show up then it could be their day.