Sports Mole takes an in-depth look at how the Netherlands could line up in their clash with rivals Germany in the UEFA Nations League on Monday.
Ronald Koeman will be without his captain Virgil van Dijk when the Netherlands travel to Munich to face Germany in the UEFA Nations League on Monday.
The Liverpool defender was sent off after receiving two quick-fire bookings in their 1-1 draw with Hungary on Friday night, and has since returned to England to train with his club.
Despite a shaky start to his Manchester United career, Matthijs de Ligt is the most likely candidate to come into the side to partner Stefan de Vrij at centre-back, with numerous injuries at left-back forcing Micky van de Ven to fill in out wide.
Nathan Ake and Jurrien Timber are both unavailable due to injury setbacks, while Feyenoord’s Quilindschy Hartman has only briefly returned from a lengthy absence of his own, so was not considered for this camp.
Jan Paul van Hecke‘s late withdrawal also increases the likelihood of De Ligt starting with De Vrij, unless Koeman opts to go with the versatile Lutsharel Geertruida instead.
The centre of midfield is also a problem position for Koeman, with arguably his entire first-choice trio in that area of the pitch currently out.
Ryan Gravenberch has earned his place in the side with his performances for Liverpool so far, but being without Frenkie de Jong, Jerdy Schouten and Joey Veerman is a big blow for the Dutch, while Teun Koopmeiners is also unavailable due to injury.
The performance in Budapest on Friday also illustrated the lack of goalscoring options in the Holland side at present, with Cody Gakpo not playing much at Liverpool, Joshua Zirkzee having a slow start at Man United, and both Brian Brobbey and Donyell Malen completely out of form.
Memphis Depay was not selected once again after moving to Brazil, while Steven Bergwijn was publicly told by manager Koeman that his move to Saudi Arabia will see him not considered for selection.
Many raised the point that Georginio Wijnaldum was picked for the Euro 2024 squad despite making the same move, but the former Liverpool and Paris Saint-Germain midfielder is also no longer in the squad.
Netherlands possible starting lineup:
Verbruggen; Dumfries, De Vrij, De Ligt, Van de Ven; Gravenberch, Reijnders, Q Timber; Simons, Zirkzee, Gakpo
Click here to see how Germany could line up for this fierce encounter.
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