WCQ Group D Live Streaming : Turkey v Netherlands as home side and Romania fight for playoff spot
Turkey are surprising 11/8 favourites to overcome group winners Holland as they and Romania face off in race to win secure a play-off spot from Group D.
Turkey and Romania both face tough home tests with the more successful team being rewarded with a space in the playoff round.
At the moment, Turkey occupies the play-off spot but they face the hardest task of all as they host group winners Netherlands in Istanbul.
A win will see Fatih Terim’s safely through however if they fail to win and Romania better their result, then that will seem Turkey eliminated from the World Cup.
One problem for Turkey ahead of the clash is the loss of Nuri Sahin who will miss the clash with an ankle injury and will be a notable absentee ahead of the crunch match.
This could give room for young Hamburg midfielder Hakan Calhanoglu to make his presence known in the squad although Fenerbahce midfielders Mehmet Topal and Caner Erkin are also linked with a starting sport.
Turkey will also be hoping that the Galatasaray strike duo of Burak Yilmaz and Umut Bulut will be able to replicate some of their sensational form from last season and keep the country’s World Cup dream very much alive.
It will be tough as they face a seemingly unstoppable Netherlands side that destroyed fellow playoff contenders Hungary 8-1 on Friday.
The Dutch side has been hurt by injuries to several players over the past few days and the likes of Gregory van Der Wiel and Jonathan de Guzman are likely to miss the game on Tuesday evening. ‘
Robin Van Persie is still a likely contender to start the match with the Manchester United breaking the Dutch goalscoring record with a hat-trick against Hungary last time out.
Meanwhile, Romania knows that if they better Turkey’s result, it will put them into the playoffs at the expense of their rivals from across the Black Sea.
The Romanian side will have a fresh squad ahead of their game against Estonia and familiar names such as Tottenham’s Vlad Chirches and West Ham’s Razvan Rat are likely to start the match.
Estonia’s fate is already sealed with them finishing in 5th in the group and the small Baltic nation will be without experienced defender Raio Piiroja for the trip to Bucharest.
Hungary does still have a shot of qualifying and should both Turkey and Romania lose their games, then a win against Andorra would put them through into the playoffs.
It’s been a while since either Hungary, Turkey or Romania have featured in a World Cup and all three sides will be hoping that they can use their home support to see them safely across the finish line.
