History suggests that Arsenal hotshot Vivianne Miedema will net her 70th senior international goal for The Netherlands against Russia in Moscow on Friday.
The 24-year-old forward is the all-time record goalscorer for the Dutch but has been stuck on 69 goals since last November, largely as a result of the Coronavirus pandemic.
Sarina Wiegman’s side return to competitive action for the first time since March on Friday when they travel to Russia for their latest UEFA Women’s EURO 2022 qualifier and history suggests that Miedema will be on target. The player has netted no less than four goals in her nation’s last two matches against the Russians, including a hat-trick in The Netherlands’ 4-0 victory against them in early 2017.
Miedema has linked up with her country in good goalscoring form after scoring four goals for her club in the opening two rounds of fixtures in the Barclays FA Women’s Super League. Her early season domestic goal return can only be bettered by club and national teammate Jill Roord who has bagged six, made up of back-to-back hat-tricks.
Arsenal forward Miedema has already won a UEFA Women’s EURO with The Netherlands with the player having been a member of their successful 2017 squad. The striker won the Silver Boot at that tournament after netting four goals across six matches.
Victory for The Netherlands over Russia on Friday will leave the nation just three points short of securing qualification for the UEFA Women’s EURO 2022 given their superior goal difference, a tournament in which you would expect that striker Miedema will make a significant impact.