Heading into the World Cup, much of the talk around the Netherlands had (rightly) been on a frontline that did not really hold up in comparison with the great names that came before it. There is still a lot of work to do before the cast of 2026 can be compared to Ruud van Nistelrooy or Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, let alone the true Tier S greats of the Oranje, but Ronald Koeman's attackers are comfortably exceeding those quelled expectations.
Crysencio Summerville, Cody Gakpo and Brian Brobbey all have two goals to their name, the latter duo blitzing through Sweden in an outstanding 5-1 win, while the West Ham winger has one in each game, both of them legitimate crackers from range. As a trio, those three seem to gel together quite nicely, typified in their opener last time out. Brobbey drops deep to serve as an outlet, quickly moving the ball out to Gakpo on the wing and showing a burst of pace to get back up with play and turn in the low cross.
On the face of it, Koeman's front three fits together quite nicely. Brobbey acts as the target man, adept with his back to goal but a proper force when the ball is in the area. Gakpo is the technician, gliding infield where he can combine with teammates or pull the trigger. Summerville, whose debut only came against Algeria in a pre-tournament friendly, adds the burst. All of that and Donyell Malen to come off the bench. The Roma forward is yet to score at the tournament but he got 14 in 18 Serie A games last season, averaging 4.26 shots and 0.67 non-penalty expected goals per 90. He gets in good positions and gets good efforts away.
The only question left is whether what we are seeing from the Netherlands attack tells us more about their opponents than them. Japan invited the Dutch onto their defense and Sweden, well, they might just be very bad. Unfortunately, we'll have to wait a while longer to work out what this frontline might be against the best of the best. Tunisia certainly aren't that but they might at least afford Brobbey, Gakpo, Summerville and Malen a chance to fill their boots.
Viewing information for Tunisia vs. Netherlands
Date: Thursday, June 25 | Time: 7 p.m. ET Location: Arrowhead Stadium -- Kansas City, Mo. TV: FS1 (Eng), Telemundo (Spa) | Live stream: Fubo (Try for free) Odds: Tunisia +2800 | Draw +1000 | Netherlands -1200
Tunisia vs. Netherlands predicted lineups
Tunisia: Aymen Dahmen; Dylan Brown, Montassar Talbi, Omar Rekik; Yan Valery, Anis Ben Slimane, Ellyes Skhiri, Ali Abdi; Elias Saad, Hannibal Mejbri; Sebastian Tounekti
Netherlands: Bart Verbruggen; Denzel Dumfries, Jan Paul van Hecke, Virgil van Dijk, Micky van de Ven; Ryan Gravenberch, Frenkie De Jong, Tijani Reijnders; Crysencio Summerville, Brian Brobbey, Cody Gakpo
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Tunisia vs. Netherlands pick, prediction
Tunisia are not quite as bad a defense as their record paints them out to be, their nine goals against coming from shots worth 3.46 xG, but if you are giving up 1.7 xG per game, you might well concede even if you get the lucky breaks that have evaded you in this tournament. This won't be a paddling but it probably won't be a positive result for already eliminated Tunisia either. Pick: Tunisia 0, Netherlands 1
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