Helmond Sport v FC Eindhoven

Helmond Sport has got a new manager. They sacked Wil Boessen two weeks ago to appoint Sven Swinnen, who came over from partner club KV Mechelen, for his first job as head coach. Swinnen made it clear he wanted to change things at Helmond Sport with high pressure football and faster attacking play, a classic for starting managers. 

He started his spell with the team that sits at the bottom of the table with a hopeless defeat at FC Volendam (trailing 2-0 in ten minutes), but took a surprise victory away at number two FC Emmen on Tuesday. In both games, Helmond Sport were mostly overrun and with FC Eindhoven they meet another team in great form. Eindhoven won their last six games, which catapulted them to fourth position and made them a serious contender for direct promotion. 

FC Eindhoven is not the most offensive team in the top division, but I do suspect goals in this game. Swinnen has made it clear that attacking football is his main goal and the victory at Emmen, the best defensive side in the league, will only support his intentions to focus more on attacking than defending. In front of his own fans, that could result in overconfidence. Helmond Sport’s attacking seems to have improved, but Volendam didn’t hesitate to take advantage of the defensive shortcomings and I suspect FC Eindhoven will do that too.  

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Maastricht v NAC Breda

An upset win over ADO Den Haag ended a woeful streak for MVV Maastricht. They had lost seven in a row and failed to win their last ten league games. However, it’s back to normality as they lost 3-1 to Dordrecht again in the most recent round of matches. A 3-1 loss means MVV are currently in 16^th position.

The Limburg based side have only won four home games this season, but their last win was a while ago. They have lost three straight home games and no wins since eight games back.

NAC are not having the best of seasons but still look like a certainty for the playoffs. In fact, after lots of injuries the worst seems behind them which is underlined by their recent results. They have won the last three and have collected 10 points from their last 4 matches. NAC have also won two of their last four away games. Losing away to FC Emmen and ADO Den Haag can hardly be considered embarrassing. I expect NAC to book a win in this match.

MVV have a few injuries, which includes starting player Clint Essers as the main problem.

NAC have had their fair share of injury problems during the season, which explains a few poor results. This seems to be a thing of the past now. Yes, Jarchinio Antonia and Mario Bilate are currently still injured – but these two can easily be replaced.

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Roda JC v Dordrecht

This could be an interesting match, with both sides generally doing well lately – although Roda have suffered a recent defeat due to several Covid-cases. That said, this loss was the first defeat after a very successful range of eleven games without losing which has pushed Roda into eighth place. Roda have also booked 3 wins and 3 draws in their six most recent home games, looking in excellent form. The Limburg based side have scored a good 52 goals in their 27 games played this season and have scored 10 in their last four home games as well.

Dordrecht are only 18^th and are not a great side, but they have been performing better lately. I can see them climb a few spots as the season still progresses.  They’ve lost just one of their last eight matches. I do think Roda can beat them, but it will be a tight one. Dordrecht have lost just one of their last four away games, but all 14 away games saw at least 2.5 goals scored.

Roda have little issues personnel wise, although Niek Vossebelt is injured. However, either Davy van den Berg or Tomer Altman can easily replace him. For Dordrecht there are no major absentees, although talented Devin Koswal is no option for today. All be considered, I can see at least three goals occurring here on Friday night.

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VVV Venlo v FC Volendam

FC Volendam is heading straight for promotion this season. With Wim Jonk in charge, their game plan with carefully crafted attacking play and technique over power seems fruitful and they have a seven-point lead over number two FC Emmen. Excelsior, who could push them out of the spots for direct promotion are ten points behind and played a game extra. 

Although they can almost touch direct promotion, they are not there yet and Jonk’s side seems fully aware of that. That’s why I don’t expect them to become complacent for this game, especially not against VVV Venlo. The Limburgers expected a lot more from this season in the second division, after several seasons on the highest level, but the side didn’t have the financial power to create a team fighting for promotion. Having said that, the side is still in the running for the play-offs and picked up ten points from the last four games. 

The three recent victories were all against teams in the bottom five of the league, so a home game against current leaders FC Volendam is a different ballpark for the side from Venlo. Volendam only lost once this season and that was against ADO Den Haag in the second game of the season. 18 victories and 7 draws later, I suspect them to claim the three points in Venlo.

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