Netherlands vs. Croatia Bet Builder Tips: 14/1 treble for Wednesday's Nations League semi-final

Wednesday sees the 2023 Nations League Finals begin when hosts Netherlands take on Croatia in the competition's first semi-final.

A place in Sunday's final is the prize on offer and this 14/1 bet has caught our eye for the game courtesy of BoyleSports' handy bet builder feature.

Oranje thrashed the competition in League A Group 4 to book their place here, taking 16 points from a possible 18 against Belgium, Poland and Wales to coast through to this final four showdown.

Netherlands conceded the same number of goals as Croatia did during the groups (6), but bettered their eight goals scored by almost double with 14 - the highest of any team in the top tier of the tournament.

Home advantage in this encounter should play quite a significant factor for Ronald Koeman's side who have only been bested once in their nine Nations League matches on home soil since it was founded five years ago.

In Memphis Depay's absence, Liverpool forward Cody Gakpo is expected to lead the line. The 24-year-old boasts strong numbers on both the individual and collective fronts for last campaign, netting nine times from 14 games for PSV before making a January switch to the Premier League where he scored seven in 17 starts.

On the international stage, he fired three in at the World Cup finals in Qatar last December to make it six goals in his 15 caps for the senior squad. Oranje's varied attacking style suits a forward of Gakpo's nature, who is just as comfortable meeting a header in the 18-yard box as he is running in behind a high defensive line halfway into the opposition half.

Similarly to the Netherlands, Croatia have a key absentee in central defender and RB Leipzig star Josko Gvardiol. The man we're about to highlight in Josip Sutalo has kindled a strong partnership with the 21-year-old for their national side, and he will now find himself as the more experienced of the two central figures in Kockasti's defence on Wednesday.

The centre back who plies his trade in his native country for Dinamo Zagreb made his Croatia debut just over a year ago. The Nations League was the birthing ground for his international career, starting half of his team's six group games, while only conceding one goal to Denmark during this run.

He'll be facing a buoyant Cody Gakpo, eager to make an impression in the number nine role. No Liverpool player drew more fouls than Gakpo in the Premier League last season who ended tied on 33 with Mohamed Salah despite featuring 17 fewer times for the Reds than his Egyptian teammate.

The Dutch forward ended the season with a goal against Southampton and won 12 fouls across his last six games. Couple that with the four free kicks Sutalo conceded in his last Nations League outing with Denmark and things are starting to add up.

Although he awaits his first card in a Croatia shirt, his only previous major game experience came in the form of 66 minutes in Croatia's 2-1 third place play-off win over Morocco. Averaging two tackles per game, displaying his career's most prominent bookings return of four yellows from 27 this season, and highlighting how five of the last eight centre backs to come up against this Netherlands team have been carded, a caution for the defender completes our 14/1 bet builder.