England U21 vs Netherlands U21 Prediction: Can the Young Lions reach the U21s Euro 2025 Final?

A place in the European Under-21 Championship final will be on the line when England and the Netherlands meet at Tehelne pole in Bratislava this evening.

The semi-final clash will get underway at 5pm and will be broadcast live in the UK on Channel 4.

England U21 vs Netherlands U21 Tips

England raced into a 2-0 lead against Spain in the quarter-finals of the European Under-21 Championship thanks to goals from James McAtee and Harvey Elliott.

Lee Carsley’s men went on to record a 3-1 success over La Roja and on the face of it that was an impressive victory. 

England have been propelled to tournament favourites, with France and Germany meeting in the other last-four tie, but it’s not hard to think the Young Lions have been overrated following their success against the Spanish. 

Spain had more possession, more shots, more shots on target and controlled much of the Trnava contest, but conceding two early goals put the tie beyond them.

Jay Stansfield offered little in the way of hold up play at the head of the Young Lions attack and Omari Hutchinson was ineffective on the left of England’s forward line. 

Combative midfielder Tyler Morton is suspended for the semi-final with the Netherlands and that gives Carsley even fewer options in terms of keeping the ball and dictating play. 

The Netherlands were extremely fortunate to get past Portugal in their quarter-final, but that was largely down to Ruben van Bommel’s early red card.

The Dutch had previously played pretty well in a 2-0 victory over Ukraine and, at 9/4, there is enough in the price to think Orjane may upset England in Bratislava.

Taking a big price on the Netherlands winning 2-0 also looks worth considering. Oranje scored two goals against Finland and Ukraine in the group stage of the competition and Michael Reiziger’s men hit 60 shots across their three first-phase matches

Of course, those numbers decreased in the 1-0 quarter-final success over Portugal, but Van Bommel’s red card can be offered as a reason for the downturn. 

England scored only four goals in the group stage and three of those strikes came in one match against the Czech Republic. 

The Young Lions did hit three goals against Spain, but they were rather fortunate and Lee Carsley’s men didn’t look full of attacking threat. 

England U21 vs Netherlands U21 Team News

Liverpool midfielder Tyler Morton is suspended for England, so Elliott Anderson, who scored in the 3-1 win over Spain, is likely to step in.

For the Dutch, Ruben van Bommel, Devyne Rensch and Kenneth Taylor are all banned. Neraysho Kasanwirjo, Antoni Milambo and Ernest Poku are in line to replace the suspended trio.

The lineups for England U21 vs Netherlands U21 will be displayed below approximately one hour before kick-off.