Euro 2016 Betting – Desperate Dutch Head to Turkey

Netherlands (+114) at Turkey (+240), Draw (+225)

It’s hard to believe, but Netherlands will likely need to go to the playoffs to find a ticket to Euro 2016; it’s even harder to believe that if they lose to Turkey today, they might be facing elimination in the two last fixtures of the qualifiers. Turkey will host Netherlands at Ataturk Olympic Stadium at 12:00 PM Eastern.

The Dutch were upset at home by Iceland on Thursday (1-0) in the debut of manager Danny Blind, seriously hurting their chances to get to the main draw at Euro 2016; a second straight loss would be fatal for their hopes to even reach the playoffs as a third seed. (The top two teams from each group qualify automatically while the top eight third-place teams will battle for the final four spots in a series of two-game playoffs.)

“The reality is clear: We have to go for third place,” Blind said in a press conference after the game against Iceland. “This is not the scenario you have in mind for your first match as Netherlands coach.”

Iceland now lead Group A with 18 points, followed by the Czech Republic with 16, the Netherlands with 10, and Turkey with nine. (Latvia and Kazakhstan, on four and one point, respectively, have already been eliminated.)

Each team only has three games left in qualifying and today’s game at Ataturk Olympic Stadium is arguably the most important.

Turkey are coming off a disappointing home draw against Latvia (1-1). They conceded a late equalizer that prevented the team from jumping the Netherlands for third in the group.

“I hope on Sunday we’ll get a good victory. If we [had] won [on Thursday], we would have had more options, but the atmosphere for the Netherlands game will be something else. It’s our last chance. If we win, we’ll have the advantage in the race for third place,” said Turkish manager Fatih Terim. “If we lose, it is over, and we’ll start to prepare for the World Cup. If we draw, we’ll have hope for the last two games.”

In the trends, Netherlands won their last visit to Turkey, 2-0, in the 2014 World Cup qualifiers; however, they drew in Amsterdam earlier this year (1-1) and the Dutch won’t have playmaker Arjen Robben, who suffered an injury against Iceland. Expect his absence to be noticeable as the Netherlands and Turkey play to another draw.

Pick: Draw (+225).

(Photo credit: Football.ua [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons. Photo has been cropped.)