NAC Breda v Jong Ajax

There is a full round in the Eerste Divisie this Friday and there is plenty to talk about and to bet on. We’ll start with NAC Breda as they have had a strange week. The City Group confirmed their intention to add the club from Breda to their consortium. NAC has got one of the most loyal fanbases in the country and they weren’t happy with the news, so there were all kinds of protests. However, it seems that none of them really hit the team itself as they have nothing to do with this, which means it shouldn’t really affect them for this game. 

Jong Ajax play their first game in two weeks, but the academy team might not be complete for this game. Ajax play on Saturday, which means that players like captain Kenneth Taylor, Mohamed Daramy and Mohammed Kudus might be needed in the first team. Especially as several first team players return late from their national team duties on different continents. Goalkeeper Jay Gorter is also still out with an injury. 

NAC have had a decent run recently despite some Covid issues. They missed almost their entire defence in the games against de Graafschap and Telstar. NAC won both of those games and manager Edwin de Graaf opted to keep the youngsters in against Helmond Sport, but that backfired. NAC were shafted 4-0 and the original defenders were subbed on. It was too late to save that game, but against Jong Ajax, NAC should play their strongest XI, that’s why I’d go on a home victory for this game that could be marred by crowd protests against the board.

De Graafschap v FC Emmen

De Graafschap claimed quite a surprising victory away at FC Eindhoven last week. Eindhoven had boasted an eight match winning streak and de Graafschap had gone six matches without a victory, but in a very efficient first half they scored twice and went on to claim a flattering 2-1 victory. That doesn’t mean that all problems are sorted now in Doetinchem. There are all kinds of internal frictions and with club man Jan Vreman in charge I don’t think they have the right person to change results around. 

FC Emmen is a whole different story. After a tough start to the season they really switched it on in 2022, winning ten from 12 games. That run included victories over direct rivals FC Volendam, Jong Ajax and Excelsior and with six matches to go they hold an eight point lead over Excelsior, pretty much the only team left to push them out of the top two spots for direct promotion. 

Both de Graafschap and FC Emmen seem to be complete for this game. Which means that Emmen midfielder Rui-Jorge Mendes, who scored in each of the last five games, is also available. Miguel Araujo is a bit of a different story. The important Emmen midfielder missed the last game because he was on international duty with Peru. However, he got Covid before the ties started, so he didn’t feature in either of the games. He is out of isolation, so may be available for Emmen, but that’ll depend on his fitness coming off the plane. Nevertheless, I think Emmen have the quality and the momentum, so I suspect they will get the victory here.

Almere City v Excelsior

Almere City against Excelsior is a match between teams in good form. Almere City had a shocking first six months of this season, but they have won their last four games. All matches were against teams from the bottom third of the table, but the victories were deserved. Last game, they gave MVV no chance in Limburg, showing that they are on the way up. 

Even though Almere are still close to the bottom of the table, they do also still have a chance of the play-offs. They’d have to win the fourth phase, a sub-competition from the last ten matches, whose winner gets a place in the promotion/relegation play-off. Almere are looking good in that fourth phase with four victories from four matches. Excelsior are in a whole different battle, they have already qualified for the play-offs, but might not even need that as they still have a chance on direct promotion. 

Last week, Excelsior saw several players return from illness, and that was clear in the home game against Helmond Sport. The most noteworthy was that they had their attacking strength back and created lots of chances. They didn’t give away anything at the back either and that will be interesting this game. Excelsior have the best striker in the league, but are coming up against Almere City, who haven’t conceded in the last three games. All those matches were, however, against very weak teams, so I suspect they’ll struggle to add a fourth clean sheet in a row to that tally. As Almere haven’t struggled to find the goal recently, I think we’ll see goals on both sides in this game.

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Roda JC v Jong FC Utrecht

Roda JC have been decent recently and with Dylan Vente they have the striker in form this year. The former Feyenoord striker has already found the net 13 times in 2022 and only failed to score twice this year. Roda JC have had some Covid issues at the start of March, but they seem far in the past and it looks like they will be complete for this game. 

Jong Utrecht have only one team behind them in the league table, but there is a new wind in Utrecht. The first team got rid of manager René Hake and put assistant Rick Kruys in charge. A new manager could mean new chances for players in the academy team, but Kruys is coached by Dick Advocaat and the former national team manager is not known to give many youngsters a chance, so whether it will really motivate the academy team is the question. 

Utrecht’s first team are playing on Saturday, which means that the players that could play for both sides, will probably be with the first team and won’t feature in this game. Jong Utrecht lost five games in a row and I suspect that Roda JC will be quite a bit too strong for them as well, that’s why I’d put my money on a Roda victory with a -1 handicap.

VVV Venlo v ADO Den Haag

VVV Venlo are a bit hit-and-miss this season. From the last six games, they won two, drew two and lost two, but that is still better than ADO Den Haag. ADO were doing well, but partly due to a six-point point reduction due to financial malversations, they were not quite in the running for direct promotion. 

With a new owner, the financial issues were finally taken care of, but the American consortium decided to sack manager Ruud Brood. Brood won’t get you to the top of Dutch football, but he is a decent manager for the second division and so his sacking seemed a rash decision. They let assistant Giovanni Franken in charge to finish the season and since then ADO only picked up five points in five games. The 3-1 defeat against low-ranked FC Dordrecht last week was indicative of the current situation in Den Haag. 

As winners of the first phase of the season, ADO have already qualified for the promotion/relegation play-offs. They are unlikely to get direct promotion, and that means that they don’t have that much to play for until the play-offs start. The same seems to go for VVV. They will have to make up at least seven points on NAC Breda to have a chance of the play-offs, and that seems tough in current form. Although VVV don’t seem to have that much to play for either, they still have a small chance and they are facing a heavily struggling ADO Den Haag, so I suspect they will get a result in their own stadium.

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