Two relatively out of form Eredivisie sides meet in this Dutch Cup outing and the goals should flow. Heracles just lost 2-5 vs Feyenoord and have conceded 11 goals in their last 5 games, going winless in this period.

They are known for being an inconsistent side but this is probably their poorest form of the season so perhaps a cup distraction should serve them well. Heracles have only lost 2 out of 8 home matches and 4 of their last 5 encounters at this venue have gone over 2.5 goals.

NEC Nijmegen are the favourites to win this tie around the 2.30 mark but they have lost 5 out of 7 road matches this season so can hardly be trusted on their travels. They did have a recent victory at Waalwijk 3-0 but that was facing the bottom team in the Eredivisie.

NEC are winless in 4 matches and actually suffered a terrible 0-5 away loss to Go Ahead Eagles just last weekend. Heracles top scorer Luka Kulenovic will be hoping to take advantage of a potentially fragile defence here.

NEC have attacking weapons of their own such as Koki Ogawa and Sontje Hansen who could also have success. With neither defence convincing and a less pressured cup match at stake, over 2.5 goals looks like a strong bet here in a fixture which might open up.

Desperately struggling Sparta Rotterdam will be hoping that the Dutch Cup provides a welcome distraction from their dire league form which has seen them drop into the relegation play-off spot. 5 losses in their last 6 games means they are now 14th in the Eredivisie table and they need to find something sooner or later to pick themselves up.

Drawing 1-1 away to NEC Nijmegen at the weekend might provide the boost they need, because this is an underachieving team with a top half Eredivisie budget. The biggest problem is their terrible home form, they are winless with 4 draws and 4 defeats in front of their own fans.

Go Ahead Eagles have been enjoying a much better season and are currently placed 7th in the Eredivisie table. Young manager Paul Simonis has been a revelation in what is his first head coaching role. He’s got Go Ahead playing in a 4-3-3 system which is capable of being possession based or counter-attack based.

Go Ahead Eagles’ league fixtures average 3.40 goals per game, which is one of the highest rates in the Dutch top flight. In Oliver Edvardsen, they have a proven finisher and youngster Jakob Breum is an exciting prospect capable of chipping in with goals and assists.

10 out of 16 Go Ahead games have ended with over 2.5 goals this season – including all of their last 4. The goals avenue looks a good direction to take, especially with Sparta Rotterdam likely to come out swinging in order to find some form in the cup.

Home side AZ Alkmaar are the deserving short priced favourites to beat a struggling Groningen around the 1.50 mark. This should result in a comfortable home win, especially as AZ are in fine form with 4 consecutive league wins and unbeaten in 6 straight games in all competitions.

AZ are one of the better teams in the Netherlands but have a defence which rarely keeps clean sheets. They have only managed to shut out a side out in 1 of their last 18 games, which is a statistic that will give Groningen some hope.

There will likely be some rotation within the AZ ranks but they are used to juggling weekend and midweek matches. Even if top scorer Troy Parrott is rested, the likes of Ruben van Bommel, Sven Mijnans and Ibrahim Sadiq can cause some havoc to a Groningen team which have lost their last 6 road games in the league, with a terrible -16 goal difference in those respective games, scoring once and conceding a huge 17.

They simply do not travel well and could take another beating here if AZ are in the mood. Taking over 2.5 goals looks like a good bet. AZ could cover this line on their own but their lack of clean sheets points towards Groningen maybe getting on the board.