World Cup 2010: Holland v Slovakia – Round of 16

It’s an all-European encounter as Holland take on Slovakia in the knock-out phase of the last 16 at Durban on Monday afternoon.

Holland breezed through their group, winning all of their three matches; 2-0 v Denmark, 1-0 v Japan and 2-1 v Cameroon – and conceded just the one goal. But more ominous is the fact they appeared to achieve these results for the best part in second gear; without Robben.

Holland manager Van Marwijk will have a fully-fit Arjen Robben available for this match, and the winger is expected to start. The Oranje are now emerging as genuine contenders for the Cup, but like Spain, will need to overcome their own demons to progress to the business-end of the tournament. But all seems well in the Dutch camp after Sneijder has made up with various members of the team, and they appear to be a well-organised outfit.

Slovakia have surpassed all expectations by qualifying, then progressing through their group matches to make it into the last 16. They produced a mixed bag of results in the group; 1-1 draw with minnows New Zealand, lost 0-2 against Paraguay, then produced the result of the tournament so far by beating current holders Italy 3-2 and dumping them out at the group stage in the process.

Whilst they possess creative midfielders such as Miroslav Stoch & Marek Hamsik, along with Vladimir Weiss, they will be without important defensive midfielder Zdenko Strba, and with their defence already leaking five goals in the group stage, I fancy the Netherlands to exploit this potential weakness.

Slovakia may have already played their World Cup final in beating Italy, and I wonder which Slovakia team will turn up today – either way, Holland will need to be on their mettle but with a midfield containing Van Bommel & De Jong, along with Robben and Sneijder, they possess valuable attacking options as well as effective defensive qualities.

With that in mind, together with a Holland straight win being slimly priced, I’m going for something a little different but represents great value…

Pick: Holland to Win by Nil @ 2.00 with Ladbrokes