Netherlands vs Albania: Euro 2008 Qualifying Match Preview

Tomorrow Marco van Basten's Oranje will face off against Albania in a Euro 2008 qualification match. The Netherlands, who are second in the group behind Romania (with a game in hand) are strong favorites to win against Albania and qualify for the finals to be held in Austria and Switzerland next year.

The first qualifier between the two was a close win for Holland, who managed to pull out a 2-1 victory after an own goal from Arjan Beqaj gifted 3 points to the Dutch. Although Albania should take solace in the fact that van Basten wants to rotate his squad, the Albanians are unlikely to be able to get nearly as close this game.

The Dutch will be missing Wesley Sneijder due to injury and Johnny Heitinga for personal reasons. Clarence Seedorf is likely to start in Sneijders place with an attacking lineup also likely to feature Rafael van der Vaart in his return from injury.

The Dutch team received a huge boost when Marco van Basten and Ruud van Nistelrooy reconciled their differences, allowing the Real Madrid front man back into the international scene. Van Nistelrooy impressed on his return to the Oranje, scoring a goal against Bulgaria on Saturday. Despite van Basten's rotation policy (and the copious talent in the Dutch front line) the former Manchester United player is likely to start against Albania.

The Oranje have great depth in their squad and should therefore be able to do away with a technically inferior Albania fairly easily, even without fielding our best side. I predict a 3-0 win, bringing us even on points with Group G leaders Romania.

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