Preview: Netherlands – Slovakia

(GSM) – After winning all of their matches in Group E, the Netherlands aim to stay on the winning track against Slovakia in the round of sixteen.

The Dutch began their tournament with a hard-fought 2-0 win over Denmark and beat Japan 1-0 in their second game. The final group match with Cameroon was won 2-1, which secured the top spot in the group.

Arjen Robben made his return to the pitch during that final game and immediately added danger up front. Manager Bert van Marwijk has avoided making any statements about Monday’s line-up but would not deny either that Robben could start.

Rafael van der Vaart appears to have pulled a muscle in training on Sunday and is unlikely to feature against Slovakia, according to the team’s medical staff.

Nigel de Jong, Robin van Persie, Gregory van der Wiel, Giovanni van Brockhorst, Van der Vaart and Dirk Kuyt were all booked in the group phase and would miss a potential quarter final if they concede another card in the round of sixteen.

Slovakia struggled their way to a 1-1 draw with New Zealand in their opening game and lost 2-0 to Paraguay. It was only in their last game that they manage to leave a good impression, beating reigning world champions Italy 3-2 to finish second in Group F.

Jan Durica, Vladimir Weiss, Stanislav Sestak, Jan Mucha, Peter Pekarik and Robert Vittek are all at risk of missing the quarter finals and will need to avoid cards in this game. Zdeno Strba was already booked twice and is as such suspended for the match against the Netherlands.

Both sides have scored four goals at this tournament, and both left three of them for the second half of their games. As such, it may be expected that most of the goal action in this match is to take place in the second half as well.

The Netherlands are clear favorites for this game, which was reaffirmed by Slovakian manager Vladimir Weiss who said that beating the Dutch would be the highlight of his career.

Monday’s match takes place at Durban’s Moses Mabhida Stadium, which is to see its sixth match at this World Cup. The venue holds a maximum of 70,000 fans but has had averages of about 62,000 at this tournament.

The game is scheduled to start at 16:00 (4pm) local time and the referee appointed is Spaniard Alberto Undiano.