Holland v Chile – Red Hot Chile Sanchez

Chile and Holland meet on Monday to decide the top spot in Group B as both are already assured of a spot in the knockout stages.

Form
Form
An opening 3-1 over Australia get the South Americans off to a perfect start in the tournament as goals from Alexis Sanchez and Jorge Valdivia inside the first 15 minutes put them in control of the game quickly. The Socceroos came back into it with Tim Cahill’s header and Chile were more seriously tested than many would have expected in the second half but ultimately prevailed thanks to a third in the 90th minute from Wigan Atheltic’s Jean Beausejour. They followed that up with a wonderful win and performance over Spain in their last game when they were richly deserving of their two-goal winning margin. Eduardo Vargas opened the scoring when he finished off a wonderful move in the 19th minute and the reigning champions must have known the writing was on the wall when a weak punch from goalkeeper Iker Casillas was pounced upon by Charles Aranguiz to make it 2-0 just before half-time. There were to be no further goals so Chile made it six points from six and sent Spain packing in most convincing fashion.

The Dutch have been the great entertainers of the World Cup to date, having been involved in two games which have featured 11 goals, scoring eight of them. Their second half annihilation of Spain in their first outing showed this is a side who mean business, as after Xabi Alonso’s penalty was cancelled out by a quite brilliant diving header from Robin van Persie on the stroke of half-time their was only one side in it in the second half. Holland absolutely destroyed the Spanish rearguard with pace and precision as Arjen Robben struck twice, Stefan de Vrij scored with a header from a set-piece and van Persie grabbed his second to humiliate the champions. Their 3-2 victory over Australia last time out was amazingly an even more exciting game as Robben’s opener was almost immediately pegged back by an absolute screamer from Tim Cahill. Mile Jedinak’s penalty gave the Socceroos the lead but Van Persie’s third of the tournament soon followed and Memphis Depay’s strike from distance spared Dutch blushes but was harsh on a fantastic effort from the underdogs.

Team News
At least two changes have been enforced upon Louis van Gaal as he is without Van Persie after the Manchester United striker picked up a second booking in successive games against Australia while full-back Bruno Martins Indi suffered a concussion in that game and is also out. Jermain Lens is likely to start up front but the injury to wing-back Indi may see a change to their 5-3-2 system.

Chile are without Aranguiz after the holding midfielder suffered a knee injury in the second half against Spain that rules him out again here. Felipe Gutierrez, who earns his living in Holland with FC Twente, is likely to take his place but that looks set to be Jorge Sampaoli’s only change.

Head-to-Head
These teams will be meeting for the first time in an international fixture.

Recommended Bets
This is one of the most intriguing games of the final round of fixtures as Chile need to win to finish top of the group while a draw will be enough for the Dutch to claim first place. It’s just not in Holland’s nature to play for a draw and their better players operate further up the pitch, while Chile have scored two or more in 15 of their last 17 games so this leads to one conclusion: goals.
Both teams scoring looks a shoo-in but 8/13 might not have too many takers so the goalscorers market looks more interesting and at 15/8 to score anytime Sanchez is the pick of them here while Robben at 11/8 to grab his fourth World Cup goal here is another worthy punt.