Netherlands vs Argentina 9th July 9pm

On Wednesday the second World Cup finalist will be decided, with Netherlands and Argentina going head to head over a chance to play Germany for football's biggest prize. For the Oranje, the semifinal will be a fairly familiar scenario, as they finished as runners-up to Spain in South Africa in 2010. The Netherlands will certainly be without injured midfielder Nigel de Jong, while Leroy Fer and Ron Vlaar both face late fitness tests. Jonathan de Guzmán could come into the midfield in place of winger Memphis Depay, with Louis van Gaal likely to look for a little more midfield muscle in order to try and counter the threat of Argentina's main man Lionel Messi.


Argentina, however, haven't made it into the final four of a World Cup since they were beaten finalists in 1990. The Netherlands were excellent in the group stages, but have been significantly less convincing against more defensive sides in the knockouts. Argentina, meanwhile, had a close shave against Switzerland in the round of 16, and haven't won a single match by more than a goal so far.Argentina will be without injured midfielder Angel Di María , with the more defensive minded Enzo Pérez likely to fill his role alongside Javier Mascherano and Fernando Gago. Sergio Kun Agüero has made a quick recovery from his group stage muscular injury and could well feature in this match, though it's unlikely he'll displace Ezequiel Lavezzi for a starting spot. He was previously thought to be out for the rest of the tournament.


After Germany thoroughly unsettled Brazil by a record 7-1 scoreline last night it goes a long way to prove how unpredictable these European teams can be. Netherlands has been high flying in the group stages scoring 5 past the defending Champions though they have been quite conservative of recent while Argentina had found it difficult to win any team by more than a goal margin. With respect to last night's game Thiago Silva's absence was heavily felt in the Brazilian defence, even if they would have lost I'm convinced that it would not be up to a six-goal margin if Thiago Silva and Neymar Junior was present. The absence of Angel Di Maria would as well spell doom for the Albiceleste in their race to face Germany in the World Cup finals.


Verdict: Netherlands to win