For our France vs. Netherlands prediction, we're going for a 2-1 win for the home side.
We have a heavyweight clash in EURO 2024 qualifying on Friday night as France host Netherlands.
France enter this game as losing World Cup finalists having had a successful campaign back in Qatar despite the heartbreak.
Manager Didier Deschamps has been signed to a new contract off the back that campaign and they enter this game with a largely similar squad to the one that travelled to Qatar, with notable changing being highly rated Nice midfielder Kephren Thuram, his teammate Jean-Clair Tobido, Bayer Leverkusen winger Moussa Diaby and Lens goalkeeper Brice Samba who comes in following the retirement of Hugo Lloris.
France are generally very strong at home having gone unbeaten in their five home games in World Cup qualifying despite losing two of their three Nations League games on home soil - a set of results that are largely unimportant given the context of that campaign.
France lost the most recent head-to-head meeting with the Netherlands, 2-0 away from home back in 2018, but having won each of the previous five meetings they can be confident of getting the better of their counterparts here.
Netherlands enter this campaign off the back of a broadly successful World Cup campaign in Qatar.
They weren't particularly exciting, bar the quarterfinal, but having topped a group containing Senegal, Ecuador and Qatar before beating the USA 3-1 in the last 16 only to then lose to eventual champions Argentina on penalties following a 2-2 draw they can consider their time in the Middle East a success.
The Netherlands were under the guidance of esteemed manager Louis van Gaal in Qatar, but the former Manchester United manager has since left his post with the national team and Oranje will now be led by their former manager Ronald Koeman.
Koeman had a successful first stint with the national team but left his post to take the Barcelona job, something he likely now regrets.
The managerial change represent a move in a more progressive stylistic direction with Koeman favouring a more aesthetically pleasing approach compared to Van Gaal's counter attacking football.
The Netherlands have been stung by the withdrawal of star midfielder Frenkie de Jong from the squad through injury, with his absence likely to prove a huge miss here.
Regardless, there's still a decent amount of talent in this side but ultimately the French will likely be too much for them.
Don’t forget to check out the rest of our previews, tips and offers for this weekend’s action.
