Holland vs Argentina Betting Preview

The big two clash in the "group of death" in Frankfurt on June 21 when Holland and Argentina cross swords in Group C, although both have already qualified without having to dig too deep, especially the South Americans who played what is best described as champagne football when thrashing Serbia & Montenegro 6-0. Given that both have already booked their tickets - and that either side are likely to face Portugal or Mexico in the next round - one suspects that their respective managers, Marco van Basten and Jose Pekerman, will opt to rest most of their key players ahead of this fixture. Interestingly, the Dutch have outpointed the Argentinians in three of the five games played between the two nations since 1974, the most recent being a friendly in Amsterdam in 2003 when Holland emerged with a 1-0 victory. However, Argentina, inspired by the irrepressible Juan Riquelme, have improved significantly since, and they are now clipping at the heels of Brazil in the outright betting market for this tournament, which is hardly surprising given the quality they have displayed in their two matches thus far. Given that it's highly unlikely that either side will play their best hands - indeed, it would be pointless to play for pride given that both are already in the last sixteen and that their potential rivals at that stage are closely matched in terms of quality - it is probably wise to steer clear of many of the traditional betting opportunities - i.e. match result, first goalscorer, etc. Instead, half the risk and get stuck into the 11/10 offered by Bet365 about a draw in the half-time result market. There's no point in relying on stats or the such like in a game of this nature. But chances are the match will probably culminate in a draw overall, as both teams will be keen to avoid defeat, but neither will be overly exerting themselves given that their's virtually nothing at stake. Verdict - 2pts on draw in the half-time result market @ 11/10 (Bet365)