England vs Netherlands predictions: Women’s Nations League tips and odds

England vs Netherlands betting tips:

• England to win both halves – 13/8 with Unibet
• Beth Mead to score first – 9/2 with 10Bet
• Over 2.5 goals – 8/13 with BetVictor

England face one of the biggest challenges of the Sarina Wiegman era on Friday when they come up against Netherlands in a crunch Uefa Women’s Nations League showdown (ITV4, 7.45pm).

The Lionesses have struggled for form since losing the World Cup final back in August and suffered a 3-2 defeat to the Dutch earlier this autumn.

A further loss to Belgium means qualification for the Nations League Finals in February looks improbable, if not impossible. Mary Earps and co. need to win here and hope Belgium don’t get a result against Scotland.

Victory means Group A will go down to the final round of matches on December 5 but Wiegman cannot afford to look beyond Friday.

There is optimism in the camp with the return of Beth Mead from injury. Goals have been hard to come by in Mead’s absence but UK betting sites reckon we could see a fair few at Wembley.

Below, we explain our three picks to consider ahead of the game.

England to win both halves

Football betting sites have gone big on England, making them odds-on to win this clash. The logic seems to be that Netherlands were somewhat fortunate to get their win in Utrecht and caught England on a bad day.

England’s win odds, though, are too short to be worth bothering with. Wiegman’s troops could come out full throttle so we’re backing the home side to win both halves.

The Lionesses have scored in the first half in three of their four games since losing the World Cup final to Spain back in August. With Mead and Fran Kirby supporting Alessia Russo, there’s every likelihood we see an early goal here.

England/England on the HT/FT market is priced at 13/8 with Unibet, which may carry potential considering the hosts are expected to start fast.

Tip 1: England to win both halves – 13/8 with Unibet

Mead to score first

Beth Mead says the knee injury that forced her to miss the World Cup and the recent death of her mother have made her a “stronger” person. 

Indeed, she has returned to Arsenal this autumn with two goals from six WSL games, plus an assist. When you consider she is yet to complete 90 minutes for Arsenal this season, her 0.87 goals per game rate is pretty impressive.

Mead could well start on Friday in place of Chloe Kelly in Wiegman’s front four. She’s deadly in front of goal and what England also missed in the World Cup was Mead’s ability to open up defences and pick that final pass.

Expect the Arsenal forward to offer plenty of service to Alessia Russo and others in the first half, and to have the odd pot shot herself. 

Mead is unlikely to play a full 90 at Wembley but at 9/2 with 10Bet we’re tipping her to score the opener.

Tip 2: Beth Mead to score first – 9/2 with 10Bet

Over 2.5 goals at Wembley

England and Netherlands usually bring the goals when they face off and Friday should be no different. 

An average 2.75 goals have been scored per game over the Lionesses’ last 12 matches with the Dutch. This includes three back in September and six in a friendly before Euro 2022.

There were 25 shots in total during Netherlands’ 2-1 win over England last time they met. Since then, the Dutch have put five past Scotland over two games and are in pole position to top League A Group 1.

England’s firepower is well known and they have Mead back. Netherlands rumbled the Lionesses with Lieke Martens, Victoria Pelova and Jill Roord pulling the strings last time out.

Both teams could score here and history suggests we may see three or more fly into the net at Wembley. As such, we’re predicting over 2.5 goals on the night. 

Tip 3: Over 2.5 goals – 8/13 with BetVictor