Women's Nations League: Scotland vs Netherlands Match Preview

Photo credit: Scottish FA 

In the second game of the Nations League group stages, Scotland will host the Netherlands at Hampden Park. As of now, Netherlands sit ahead of Scotland by just one point, and the outcome of tonight’s match could change this.   

Recent performances: 

Scotland have won three out of their six previous matches drawing one and losing two. Their most recent victory ended 4-0 against Hungary at home in the European Championship qualifier play offs with Erin Cuthbert, Caroline Weir and Martha Thomas on the scoresheet. Unfortunately for Scotland, their Nations League campaign didn’t get started in the best way possible as they narrowly lost to Austria 0-1, leaving them fourth in the table with no points and a goal difference of -1. 

Netherlands have also won three out their six previous matches, drawing two and losing one. Their most recent victory came against China at home, ending 4-1, Wieke Kaptein, Jill Roord, Lineth Beerensteyn and Esmee Brugts were on the scoreboard. Their most recent loss was against the USA in a friendly which ended 1-2. The Netherlands Nations League campaign also didn’t get started in the best way, a draw to Germany on Friday night has left them sitting third in the group. 

Both teams will be looking to turn their Nations League campaigns around to progress to the next round but not only will they be relying on their own scoreline, but also the Germany vs Austria scoreline.  

Standout players: 

The standout players for both teams have only recently returned to the pitch off the back of anterior cruciate ligament injuries. 

Caroline Weir, for Scotland, has represented her country through all the youth levels and received her first senior squad call up in June 2013, and then became a regular face in the squad. Scotland qualified for their first major tournament in 2017, the European Championships. Weir was voted player of the match in the opening game against Spain, where she also scored the opening goal. She was also part of the 2020 Team GB Olympic squad with fellow Scot Kim Little. In her 102 caps for Scotland she has scored a total of 17 goals and assisted four. In 2016 and 2020, Weir was named Scotland’s player of the year, in 2017 she won the NRS Scottish Sporting Breakthrough Award, she also won the SFWA Women’s International Player of the Year award in 2021/22 and 2022/23. 

For the Netherlands, Vivianne Miedema, will be one to watch as she continues to try and make an impact following her injury. Like Weir, Miedema also represented her country through all the youth levels. She received her first senior team call up in September 2013, against Albania in the 2015 World Cup qualifiers. A month later and she had scored her first senior hat trick in just 16 minutes. At the 2020 summer Olympics, Miedema broke the Olympic record when she scored ten goals in four matches, four against Zambia, two against Brazil and two against China. Her first 90 minutes back post ACL injury was against Norway in the final European Championship qualifiers. In 121 caps for her country, she has scored 96 goals making her the all time top scorer in the Netherlands. Miedema has won multiple individual awards but some of her most notable include BBC Women’s Footballer of the Year 2021, UEFA Women’s Under-19 Championship Golden Player 2014 and PFA Team of the Year 2018/19, 2019/20 and 2021/22.  

Team news and predicted line ups: 

Both teams have changed squads from their games on Friday night due to injuries. Nicola Docherty has been called up to the Scotland squad to replace Amy Muir and Mia McAuley, and for the Netherlands, Daniëlle van de Donk will be unavailable after leaving the squad early following her injury in the first half against Germany.  

Scotland: Gibson, Lawton, Smith, Howard, Cornet, Kerr, Weir, Hanson, Clark, Emslie, Thomas  

Netherlands: Van Domselaar, Dijkstra, Buurman, Roord, Beerensteyn, Grant, Baijings, Brugts, Groenen, Casparij, Kaptein 

The game will kick off at 7:30pm UK time and will be available to watch live on BBC Scotland.