Malta vs Netherlands Prediction: Depay to end the Oranje’s night on a bright note

Top takes on bottom in Group G on Thursday (19:45 BST, Amazon Prime Video) as Malta host the Netherlands in a Uefa World Cup qualifier. Malta have picked up two points from their first five games and trail the Oranje, who have played a match fewer, by eight points.

Below are my Malta vs Netherlands predictions, supported by all the latest team news and match odds, ahead of this meeting at Ta'Qali National Stadium.

Team News

Included in Malta's squad for this month's World Cup qualifier against the Netherlands and friendly against Bosnia and Herzegovina are the England-based trio of James Sissons (Chesterfield), Jodi Jones (Notts County), and Basil Tuma (Reading). Eighteen-year-old goalkeeper Sissons is one of two uncapped players - the other is 21-year-old midfielder Andrew Borg (Gzira United) - who Reds head coach Emilio De Leo has called up.

James Carragher (Wigan Athletic), son of Liverpool legend Jamie, missed last month's 1-1 WCQ draw with Lithuania and 3-1 friendly victory over San Marino after undergoing surgery on his thigh in August, and the defender remains sidelined for his country's October internationals.

World Cup Odds

Ronald Koeman's Dutch squad is headlined by skipper Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool), who has been joined in camp by club teammates Jeremie Frimpong, Ryan Gravenberch and Cody Gakpo.

Like Malta, the Netherlands called up two uncapped players, goalkeeper Robin Roefs (Sunderland) and striker Mexx Meerdink (AZ Alkmaar), who received his first invitation to the senior side after netting six times in his first 15 appearances this season. However, Meerdink sustained an injury during training on Tuesday and has since left the training camp in Zeist to return to his club side.

Matthijs de Ligt (Manchester United) and Noa Lang (Napoli) are notable omissions from Koeman's list, which is also missing the injured Quinten Timber (Feyenoord).

Koeman has confirmed that the Netherlands' all-time leading goalscorer, Memphis Depay (Corinthians), won't start on Thursday, as he missed five consecutive games before returning to action as a late substitute in a 3-0 victory over Mirassol on Sunday.

Today's Football Fixtures

Malta vs Netherlands Odds

Malta beat San Marino 3-1 in a friendly last month, but the Reds haven't won any of their last six competitive games (D3, L3), and are 40/1, or a 2.4% chance, to upset their opponents, who are 1/28 (96.6%) to triumph, on Thursday.

The draw is priced at 14/1 and both teams to score at 9/4, while a repeat of June's 8-0 scoreline in the Oranje's favour is available at 40/1.

Highest Scoring Half - Second Half @ 9/10

The Netherlands thrashed Malta 8-0 in Groningen in June, but after scoring three goals inside the first 20 minutes, the Oranje had to wait until the 61st minute for their fourth.

Koeman's side exchanged four goals with Lithuania in the first half of their 3-2 win in Kaunas last month, but neither of their first-half goalscorers, Quentin Timber and Depay, who scored the winner, will start on Thursday, at least according to their manager. Depay also struck his country's first two goals against Malta, but likely won't be on the pitch in Ta' Qali until the final 20 or 30 minutes.

Malta will surely try and keep things tight, particularly in the first half, so that mentality, combined with the visitors' shortage of options in attack, leads me to think that backing the second 45 as the highest scoring half is the best play here.

Last Goalscorer - Memphis Depay (NED) @ 5/2

With Depay set to appear from the bench on Thursday, there appears to be value in backing the 31-year-old to find the net last.

The former Manchester United man has scored in four of his last five caps, netting six times, and even with limited game time against Malta, he'll be confident of breaching their back line at least once, having bagged a first-half brace in June's reverse fixture.

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