Dutch Premier League connection adds spice to England semi-final

WOLFSBURG, Germany : A strong Premier League influence on both sides could ensure an exciting game when England take on the Netherlands in the European Championship semi-finals, Dutch defender Micky van de Ven said on Monday.

The vast majority of the English squad are home-based while the 26-man Dutch squad at the tournament includes seven players at Premier League clubs

"If you see the quality of the players from both teams, I think you can expect that the level and the rhythm of the game will be really high," Van de Ven told a press conference.

"Hopefully, it’s us that will have more of the ball than England so that it is England who do the running, but I expect a high intensity game," said the Tottenham Hotspur defender, who has been used only as a substitute in Germany.

"We understand they have taken a lot of flak from the English media but they are in the semi-finals … that says all it needs to about the English team. I think they play defensively but we will go and analysis them properly tonight, but what I can say is they have a lot of quality."

Cody Gakpo, who plays for Liverpool, said given the quality of players in the England setup he hoped for a really good game on Wednesday.

Gakpo, 25, moved to the Premier League two season ago with mixed results, having been forced to play in a variety of attacking roles, but at Euro 2024 has clearly shown he is best on the left wing. His three goals make him the tournament’s joint top scorer.

"I was a left wing before (moving to Liverpool) and that’s always been my preference but over the last one and a half years, the coach needed me to play somewhere else and I tried to do my best at it."

The move to England had made him a better player, he added.

"I think a lot of changed in my