Dutch football has been in the doldrums.

The flatland that produced Cruyff and Van Basten has become an international lightweight, the reputation of its players diminished by qualifying failures and several Premier League flops.

Yet at Anfield on Saturday only English players will have a heavier representation than the Netherlands among the 14 countries represented in the starting line-ups.

The Argus: Albion's visit to Liverpool brings Davy Propper into conflict with fellow countrymen Virgil van Dijk and Georginio Wijnaldum (above left).

They are three of the players Ronald Koeman is pinning his hopes on to resurrect Dutch fortunes in the European Championships.

Van Dijk is the central defender Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool had been so transparently lacking.

He was immense in Monday's hard-earned 2-0 victory at Crystal Palace which marked Liverpool down as serious title contenders to Manchester City and suggested he is worth every penny of the £75 million Liverpool splashed out on the former Southampton stopper in January.

Propper said: "Looks like it! He was very strong in the last game. Especially for the Dutch squad we need players like him."

Then there is Wijnaldum, the unsung midfielder with a Propper connection.

Propper was Wijnaldum's replacement at PSV Eindhoven when he moved to Newcastle.

"He's very important for the team I think," Propper said. "It's a little bit the same with Dale (Stephens) and me.

"You don't see us that much but I think we are important for the team. It's the same with him. He is the holding midfielder for them at the moment and I think he is doing a great job."

Propper and Stephens, along with Lewis Dunk and Shane Duffy behind them, have been the central glue that has held Chris Hughton's Premier League Albion together.

Propper and Stephens (below centre) respectively missed only three and two of the 38 matches last season. The Dutchman has been an automatic pick since he was thrown in at the deep end at home to Manchester City on the opening day, shortly after his £10 million arrival.

The Argus: The games he sat out were due to a suspension for an unfortunate red card against Huddersfield.

The landscape is a little different now as Albion try to build on their 15th placed finish. Dunk is sidelined by an ankle injury, so Leon Balogun has stepped in.

Also among the latest flock of summer signings from top leagues abroad is the athletic and forward-thinking Yves Bissouma, who made an instant impact with a cameo from the bench in the disappointing defeat at Watford on the first day.

Linguistic barriers aside, the Mali international bought from Lille is a genuine threat to the Propper-Stephens combination.

How is Propper's French? "Not so good. His (Bissouma's below) English is also not so good," Propper joked. "That's a little bit of a problem.

The Argus: "In training you can see he is a very good player. He likes to get on the ball. His actions are maybe a little bit more offensive than Dale or me. That can give us changes in a game."

Propper and Stephens have yet to score in the Premier League. They have been preoccupied with providing a protective shield, particularly away from home, to break forward much, although Stephens had one of Albion's best efforts at Watford with a volley just wide.

Propper has demonstrated an eye for goal in a more advanced role for his country but the No.10 spot is nailed down by the influential Pascal Gross.

The quietly effective 26-year-old's growth for the Seagulls continued with his contribution to last Sunday's win against Manchester United at the Amex. His work often goes unnoticed but the sponsors named him man of the match.

"We've had a lot of changes, but I think the team is getting better and better," Propper said. "When I first came here it took a little time to adapt but now I know how it goes, how we play our game. That's an advantage for me.

"Last year the first few games were not that good. This year the second game was much better than the first, that's for sure.

"After Watford, Manchester was great for us to put the pressure a little bit aside and now we can hopefully start playing."

The danger of so-called second season syndrome is double Dutch to Propper.

"I don't know about that," he said. "I haven't given much thought to it. We are here to improve and improving is better than 15th place I think.

"At the end we just want to stay up, that's the most important thing.

"I don't want to say we will do better than 15th but that's our goal. We want to be better than last year."