Contending squads the Netherlands (0-0-1, 1 point) and Belarus (0-0-1, 1 point) will look to gain their first victory in the Group A competitions of the 2018 FIFA World Cup UEFA qualifying tournament as they clash with one another this Friday, Oct. 7 at the De Kuip in the Dutch city of Rotterdam.
Start Time and Streaming Info
The game starts at 8:45 p.m. UTC+2. It can be viewed live online thru FuboTV.
The Netherlands was held to a 1-1 stalemate by lower-ranked Sweden during their tournament-opener on Sep. 6 at the Friends Arena in Solna, as per Goal.
Swedish forward Marcus Berg broke the deadlock two minutes before the halftime break to give the hosts the first advantage in the game.
Oranje looked to 123-capped veteran midfielder Wesley Sneijder to score the equalizer at the 67th minute to salvage the draw for head coach Danny Blind's side.
The Netherlands has a deep attacking crew, led by Tottenham Hotspur striker Vincent Janssen together with other big-name club players such as Manchester United's Memphis Depay, Liverpool's Georginio Wijnaldum, and Sporting CP's Bas Dost.
On defense, the team of Lazio's Stefan de Vrij, Wolfsburg's Jeffrey Bruma, Southampton's Virgil van Dijk, and Manchester United's Daley Blind is expected to start.
Meanwhile, Belarus is coming off an impressive 0-0 draw with world no. France at the Borisov Arena in Barysaw also on Sep. 6 to open their World Cup qualifying campaign on a high note, the Mirror reported.
Head coach Alyaksandr Khatskevich's boys were the overwhelming underdogs during the match as they faced a star-studded team that included Arsenal's Olivier Giroud, Manchester United's Paul Pogba and Anthony Martial, Atletico Madrid's Antoine Griezmann and Kevin Gameiro, and Tottenham Hotspur goalkeeper Hugo Lloris just to name a few.
The White Wings will continue to rely on BATE Borisov stars Mikalay Signevich, Mikhail Gordeichuk, Ihar Stasevich, and Dzyanis Palyakow. Goalkeeper Andrey Harbunow is a veteran in the domestic leagues but has only nine international caps for Belarus.
Prediction and Predicted Lineup
The predicted result is a 2-0 romp for the Netherlands.
Netherlands starting lineup (4-3-3 formation): Stekelenburg; de Vrij, Bruma, van Dijk, Blind; Wijnaldum, Strootman, Klaassen; Depay, Janssen, Sneijder
Belarus starting lineup (4-2-3-1 formation): Harbunow; Palyakow, Palitsevich, Sivakow, Bardachow; Korzun, Mayewski; Kalachev, Gordeichuk, Stasevich; Signevich