PREVIEW: Netherlands look to top their group as they face eliminated Tunisia in their final group game | OneFootball

The Oranje will be hoping for a favourable Round of 32 tie as they look to top what has been a tricky group, they face Tunisia whose 4-0 drubbing by Japan saw the end of their World Cup campaign.

After a tightly contested 2-2 draw with Japan in their opening game of this year’s World Cup, Ronald Koeman’s Dutch side blew Sweden out of the water thanks to two goals from Sunderland’s Brian Brobbey and Liverpools Cody Gakpo to overtake fellow dark horses Japan in what is turning into a tightly contested Group F.

The perennial nearly-men of the World Cup, the Netherlands have been finalists three times in their history and have lost all of them, in 1974 to West Germany, 1978 to Argentina and 2010 to Spain.

They will be hoping that considering the seeming openness of this tournament that Koeman’s side could potentially achieve something very special.

The Dutch and Tunisia have only faced each other three times before and oddly, the Dutch have only managed to beat the North Africans once before during that fated 1978 where they finished as runners-up.

That ended 4-0 with the other two, in 1994 and 2009 ending in draws.

Tunisia have not had a quiet World Cup but the noise isn’t very positive, following a 5-1 demolition at the hands of Sweden in their first game. The Eagles of Carthage sacked manager Sabri Lamouchi in what was a World Cup first and replaced him with international veteran Hervé Renard.

Things didn’t improve in their second game as they were put to the sword once again, this time it was Japan who demolished Tunisia and quickly ended their World Cup campaign as quickly as it started.

Now looking to save face, Renard’s side face the daunting prospect of facing what is probably the strongest squad in their group and with the Netherlands’ strikers finding their feet now, things could go from bad to worse for Tunisia.

They can take some pride in getting to the tournament however, as this is Tunisia’s sixth World Cup finals and their third finals in a row, marking a huge upward trajectory for the nation.

Ahead of this game, Koeman will be welcoming back Quinten Timber, who missed the previous game through injury as his sibling Jurriën missed the entire tournament in what has been a blow for the side. He may have to settle for a place on the bench but one player who won’t is Brian Brobbey.

Brought into the side as Roma man Donyell Malen was moved out wide, Brobbey netted twice in the early stages of their victory over Sweden to immediately put the game beyond Graham Potters men. The Sunderland man performed well throughout the game and has strongly staked his claim to be the country’s starting number nine going forward.

Another strong performer at this World Cup, Crysencio Summerville has performed brilliantly in his short showings so far, coming on as a replacement for Malen in their last game. Summerville’s two goals at this tournament is tied with Brobbey and Gakpo for the sides top scorers. Meaning Koeman may have a decision to make in terms of his starting wingers.

As for Tunisia, Renard will most likely tweak his sides shape considering they are only playing for pride, he may deviate from Tunisia’s back-five they played in their defeat to Japan. It’s clear when a defensive shape isn’t working when you concede nine goals in two games.

Former Southampton defender Yan Valery will most likely still keep his place being one of the more prominent players in this Tunisian side as will Burnley’s Hannibal Mejbri who is the sides most creative player. There also will be room in the side for Ali Abdi who has impressed for Tunisia in recent years too.

Renard will also most likely rest on the talents of midfielder Anis Ben Slimane who alongside Hannibal can give Tunisia at least a slight attacking threat.

The game kicks off at 00:00 (BST) on Friday morning and is live on BBC Two and BBC iPlayer.

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