Days after conquering the group of death with a mighty sweep of their orange fists, The Netherlands are coming up against a new foe, this time in the form of Gus Hiddink’s rejuvenated Russia - who since they were thrashed in the first game of the tournament by flamboyant Spain, have been lookingly steadily better and better as the tournament has progressed. Bookies have this penned in for a clear Dutch win - but will the old curse of ‘throwing it all away’ come back to haunt Netherlands… Sure everything looks good at the moment, with squad unity seemingly at a high… But what do the stats say?

Well - things look good for the Russians in terms of work-rate, and of the eight teams left in the competition, Russia (as a whole) have covered the most ground after the group stages. Coupled with that, three Russians occupy the individual top 10 in terms of industry (CPI table below), with midfielder Sergei Semak topping the chart. Congratulatons sir!

However, it is going to take all their energy and stamina to hold the Netherlands at bay, and it is also worth of noting that of the final 8 teams, it is Russia who conceded the most shots on target during the group stages, a massive 22, and this is likely to get Van Basten’s red hot strikers champing at the bit!

Tom thinks 3-1 Holland. Jack agrees wholeheartedly! And for more information, take a look at this irreverant preview over on ’scuffed balls’.