" Holland come into this match having only played one match, but that was against the Czech Republic and they had a huge win 2-0. Macedonia had a good start to their campaign, beating Armenia 3-0, but then they lost 2-1 away in Romania. Holland will be without Arjen Robben, Kevin Hofland and Dave van den Bergh.

Quite simply, Hollands squad is simply too strong for Macedonia - New coach Marco Van Basten has chaged things around, playing a 3-4-3 formation, leaving Bayern Munich's goal machine Roy Makaay on the bench. It was the 34yr old veteran Pierre van Hooijdonk who starred against the Czechs, scoring both goals. Having changed the captaincy to Edgar Davids, the Dutch team now look like they are playing as a team and Van Basten looks like he has created a winning formula. No surprises here - Get on a Holland win @ 2/7 with Corals [£10 Free Bet]With so much firepower in the team and on the bench, Holland should overcome Macedonia. Coach Dragan Kanatlarovski. has brought in several young players to his squad and I dont think they will be a match for the Oranges.I'm not sure whether midfield is a massive strentgh either (compared to other teams). Barton, yes, getting better and only let down by his occasional passing lapses. More than good enough though. As is Trabelsi. However, there is a massive hole on the left and no-one looks like filling it really (Beasly - not sure. Vassell - works hard but not the long term answer). Reyna, despite imo being a quality player, is still hit and miss for City, and Hammann has not hit any sort of form. Judgement is reserved on Dabo. Sinclair does all you can ask of a winger his age.In conclusion, midfield looks decent on paper, some struggle to perform on occasion though and I don't see it being, on the whole, a particulalry strong midfield. For me, the defence has been head and shoulders above the rest of the team. Other than those instances, Weaver has been fine. But set pieces are a big part of football nowadays and I can't have him as a long-term solution in goal for that reason alone. I'm sure we can persevere with him for a while longer while Isaksson gets back to full fitness but I don't think it will be too long once the Swede is fit before Weaver gives Pearce an excuse to drop him

Get a Free £25 Bet with Stanleybet! Click Here!

This weeks other Previews :

Sat Oct 09 2004 England v Wales TO RUN Sat Oct 09 2004 Scotland v Norway TO RUN Sat Oct 09 2004 France v Rep of Ireland TO RUN Sat Oct 09 2004 FYR_Macedonia v Holland TO RUN Sat Oct 09 2004 Spain v Belgium TO RUN Sat Oct 09 2004 Sweden v Hungary TO RUN