England U21 vs Netherlands U21 prediction: EUROPE: Euro U21 – Play Offs betting tips on match 2025-06-24 16:00.
[p]After overcoming an outsider tag to beat Spain 3-1 in the quarter-final, defending U21 European champions England come into this Bratislava-held semi against rising stars of the Netherlands. Lee Carsley’s men haven’t had the easiest run to the final four after scraping through the group stage with one victory, meaning that they’ve won just three of their last eight matches (D3, L2). [/p]
[p]Improving on those stalemates is far from guaranteed for England, who have played out draws after 90 minutes in five of their last six U21 clashes against the Netherlands. One of those games was also a U21 Euro semi-final which ended in a heartbreaking 14-13 penalties defeat following a 1-1 draw in regular time. That result ultimately contributed to England being eliminated in four of their last six U21 Euro semi-final appearances. [/p]
[p]Much like England, Michael Reiziger’s Netherlands scraped through their group stage with just one win (D1, L1) before overcoming Portugal by a narrow 1-0 margin in the quarter-finals. Made even more impressive by the fact that the Dutch entered that game as outsiders and had Ruben van Bommel sent off after 21 minutes, the Jong Oranje shouldn’t pay their outsider status much attention this time around either.[/p]
[p]Since winning the tournament when knocking England out of the 2007 semi-finals, the Netherlands have never won this trophy again despite reaching the final four in two of their three subsequent qualifications. Both of those final-four failures came within 90 minutes and by single-goal margins, and another tight affair could ensue considering the fact the Netherlands head into this looking for a third straight clean sheet for the first time since 2023. [/p]
[p]Players to watch: James McAtee opened the scoring in England’s quarter-final, and he’s netted an impressive six goals across his last 11 appearances for the U21s. For the Netherlands, Groningen man Luciano Valente has directly contributed to four goals in his last five U21 appearances despite never playing a full 90 minutes (G3, A1). [/p]
[p]Hot stat: The Netherlands have picked up four red cards across their last seven U21 games. [/p]
[p][i]Written by Matthew Billon[/i][/p]