International
2025-06-25 - England U21 vs Netherlands U21
A Sports Betting Pick by Auls
Football: UEFA Under 21 European Championship Semi Final
Wednesday 25th June 2025 - Kick Off 5pm
This game is live on TV
Preview
The first Semi Final at the 2025 Under 21 European Championships features two teams who had been set as the underdog in their Quarter Final ties.
That meant little to defending Champions England U21 who beat Spain U21 3-1 in a repeat of the Final from two years ago. Later that day, Netherlands U21 upset Portugal U21 1-0, and that result is very impressive when noting that the Dutch had been reduced to ten men inside 21 minutes.
Overcoming tough moments has been a feature of the run for both England and Netherlands having not really impressed in the Group Stage. Both finished behind Group Winners and had only produced a single win in three Group fixtures played, but that doesn't really matter now and the underlying numbers have suggested both are playing better than the results indicate.
Chances are being created by Netherlands and they will be extremely pleased with back to back clean sheets, even if they needed Portugal to miss a Penalty in the Quarter Final. Prior to that, Netherlands had conceded twice in matches played against Finland U21 and Denmark U21 and that is something that will offer England encouragement.
Some criticism has been aimed at England for a lack of end product to the football they have played, but scoring three goals in the win over Spain will have done the team a world of good. There is no doubt that England would have been stronger if Liam Delap was leading the line, but they have shown how good they can still be in that Quarter Final win over the 2023 Runners Up and England may feel they can build on that.
Out of the two teams, England have perhaps shown a bit more consistency when it comes to the level of defending being produced and that could be key to the outcome of this Semi Final.
These nations last met at this level in November 2024 in what ended up being a 1-1 draw, while the last competitive fixtures were played in the 2019 Qualifying Group and both of those ended in draws too. However, it was England who ended up topping the section and reaching the Finals at the expense of Netherlands.
Prediction
Both Semi Final matches to be played in Slovakia on Wednesday look like having the potential of being hugely entertaining.
First up it is England U21 taking on Netherlands U21 after both teams earned upsets in the Quarter Final Round against Iberian nations Spain U21 and Portugal U21 respectively.
The defending Champions will have taken a lot of belief out of the win over Spain and they may just have enough to see off the Dutch in this Semi Final.
Netherlands are building momentum with back to back wins and clean sheets, but playing with ten men for 70 minutes is very tough on the players. Credit has to be given to them for getting past Portugal in the last eight, but it may be tough to avoid the accumulation of fatigue and this battle tested England team may edge to the victory inside ninety minutes.
The Pick :
England U21 2-1 Netherlands U21
FIXED ODDS BETTING TIP :
I'll back England U21 - 0.25 Asian Handicap at 1.85 with SportBet.One
