Brazil vs Holland: All the stats, facts and team news for the third-place play-off

As the 2014 World Cup enters the closing stages, we bring you all you need to know about the remaining fixture in Brazil from team news and key battles to Opta stats… here is all the latest information ahead of the third-place play-off between Brazil and Holland.

Semi-final: Brazil vs Holland

Venue: Estadio Nacional, Brasilia

Kick-off: 9pm (5pm, Brazil time)

Referee: Djamel Haimoudi, Algeria

Managers: 

Luiz Felipe Scolari (Brazil)
Louis van Gaal (Holland)

Team news: Brazil captain Thiago Silva will return to the side after he missed the 7-1 thrashing by Germany through a one-match suspension.

Coach Luiz Felipe Scolari is expected to make a number of changes, with Dani Alves possibly returning to the starting line-up. Neymar, of course, will not feature.

Holland coach Louis Van Gaal may also be tempted to make some changes, with Memphis Depay and Klaas-Jan Huntelaar in contention for a starting place.

Key clash: Thiago Silva (Brazil) v Robin van Persie (Holland)

Brazil captain Thiago Silva returns to boost the defensive line that Germany tore apart and will look to limit the contributions of Holland’s all-time leading scorer Robin van Persie.

Since hitting the back of the net twice in his team’s 5-1 win over Spain and adding another in a 3-2 triumph over Australia in the group stages, Van Persie has not been as effective.

Van Persie sat out the game against Chile through suspension and was bothered by a stomach injury before the Argentina game.

One to watch: Arjen Robben (Holland)

Arjen Robben has been one of the top players of the World Cup, his sixth major tournament with Holland.

The Bayern Munich winger has led the Dutch in scoring with three goals and will lament the fact that only the excellent defending of Argentina’s Javier Mascherano denied him a fourth in the semi-final.

Head-to-head record: Played 11 Brazil Wins 3 Draws 5 Holland Wins

Opta stats:

• This will be the 12th clash between Brazil and Holland (W3, D5, L3) and the fifth in World Cup finals.
• In World Cups, the Dutchmen have won twice, most recently in the 2010 quarter finals (2-1). Brazil managed to win once (1994), plus a penalty shoot-out 1998 (4-2).
• For the second time after 1974 and 1978, Holland will finish in the top four in two consecutive World Cups.
• The Dutchmen had scored 12 goals in their opening four games but failed to find the net in both the quarter-final and the semi-final, despite both matches going to extra-time.
• Holland have lost five of seven penalty shoot-outs in World Cups and European Championships.
• Oranje will appear in their second third place game (1998 1-2 loss v Croatia).
• Brazil have conceded the most goals in the current World Cup campaign (11). The last time they conceded 11 was in 1938 and they’ve never conceded more than 11.
• 10 of Holland’s 12 goals in this tournament have come after half-time; the last four have come after the 75th minute.
• In the semi-final, the Dutchmen attempted just seven shots (incl blocked) in 120 minutes – in all of their previous World Cup matches since 1966, they had managed at least 10 shots.
• While Holland had just one shot on target in the semi-final, Brazil had eight in the 7-1 loss versus Germany.
• This will be Brazil’s fourth appearance in the third place game, but their first since 1978.
• Brazil have won two and lost one of their three previous appearances in the third place match.
• Against Germany, Brazil conceded just 11 fouls while conceding 31 against Colombia in the quarter-final.
• Only Karim Benzema (15) has had more shots on target than Robin van Persie (10) in this World Cup; but the Dutchman is yet to score in the knockout stages.
• The injured Neymar (13) is the only player who created more goalscoring chances for Brazil than Marcelo (10).