Every week in the 2021/22 season, Football-Oranje’s Michael Statham gives you his predictions and betting tips for each Dutch Eredivisie round.
- by Michael Statham
- Follow Michael on Twitter @EredivisieMike
Saturday, 18th December
Fortuna Sittard v FC Utrecht
Fortuna picked up a very important win last weekend at PEC Zwolle, their relegation rivals. I think they will quickly forget about the mid-week cup defeat to PSV and concentrate on this fixture with Utrecht, which they are capable of getting points from if they can play to their maximum and keep things tighter at the back. Nigel Lonwijk was superb as Fortuna earned their second clean sheet of the season last Saturday. Utrecht will be gutted to have been knocked out of the cup mid-week, and I think they’ll find it hard to respond. 1-1 | Tip: Fortuna double chance.
Sparta Rotterdam v Vitesse Arnhem
Whilst they haven’t always been playing spectacular football, Vitesse have been picking up lots of good results recently. With fans, I think Sparta would have enjoyed an injection of extra motivation and energy to get a result, but it’s becoming so difficult for teams near the bottom to dig out good performances without their home support. 1-2 | Tip: Both teams to score.
Heracles Almelo v FC Groningen
Heracles are in danger of falling into the relegation zone this weekend. On the whole, Frank Wormuth’s three years with the Almelo outfit have been very positive; he has stabilised the club. This season, he has suffered the loss of Rai Vloet and the quality of his other forwards are lacking to keep them in mid-table or better, so he has his hands tied. After a poor start to the season, Groningen are now six unbeaten. You just knew that Danny Buijs would turn the corner eventually! I think Heracles will be desperate for a result. 1-0 | Tip: Heracles double chance.
AZ Alkmaar v Willem II
Willem II are in awful form and I have not enjoyed watching them at all lately whenever I have elected to catch one of their games. On the other hand, AZ are very much on the up, so you can’t see any other result surely than a home win! 2-0 | Tip: AZ +1.5 team goals.
PEC Zwolle v FC Twente
Twente have been on such a good run. They are very good at creating chances even when they don’t have lots of the ball in games. Sitting in fifth and travelling to Zwolle, all form points to an away win, but my gut tells me it won’t be that simple. Twente won’t go and thrash the home side, but PEC have only scored 8 goals in their 16 games so far. 1-1 | Tip: Under 3.5 goals.
Sunday, 12th December
Cambuur v Heerenveen
Cambuur are sitting delightfully above their Frisian rivals ahead of this derby. Heerenveen have the better quality player for player, but you can see the difference in terms of confidence levels of players and the managerial ability of Henk de Jong. The visitors have been involved in some real drab games of late, but Cambuur are totally the opposite to that, so there’ll be a clash of styles. 3-1 | Tip: Over 2.5 goals.
Feyenoord v Ajax
I cannot wait for De Klassieker. Feyenoord come into the game on the back of a draw with Groningen and defeat to Twente in the cup; both games they dominated on xG, yet they came away without wins. Luis Sinisterra – who has 14 goals and 7 assists in 24 games already in this campaign – could be an important player on Sunday. I think he will have joy against Ajax’s replacement right-back for the injured Noussair Mazraoui (most likely to be the talented but young Devyne Rensch). How will Ajax respond after losing at home to AZ? It’s another league game this season in which they have disappointed following a Champions League game. In the past, Ajax have struggled more with the game previous to their European fixture (perhaps because of a lack of concentration), but now there seems to be mental fatigue in the Eredivisie after their European exploits. They can’t get the early goals to kill off their inferior opponents. A huge fixture in the Eredivisie for Ajax though this Sunday, and they do prefer games which are open so that they can more easily show how strong they are against domestic opposition. I think that with fans in De Kuip, Feyenoord would have been slight favourites; this time though I think Ajax will win. 1-3 | Tip: Over 2.5 goals.
Go Ahead Eagles v NEC Nijmegen
Although away side NEC have looked a safe bet for a mid-table finish, they have lost their last three in the Eredivisie. Remarkably, Go Ahead have conceded only three goals in their last seven across all competitions, and I think it’ll be another tight game, and this time I see the points being shared. 1-1 | Tip: Under 3.5 goals.
RKC Waalwijk v PSV
I think this will be a typical game for PSV where they find it tough to break down a resolute RKC without all of their first-team squad fit. In the end, they will find some late goals and win by a narrow margin. PSV wouldn’t even be in the top four if games finished after 80 minutes, yet they sit top because of their resilience and determination late in games. 1-2 | Tip: Away win.
How has Michael done so far?
Week 1: 4/9 results | 5/9 betting tips
Week 2: 4/8 results | 6/8 betting tips
Week 3: 5/9 results | 6/9 betting tips
Week 4: 4/8 results | 5/8 betting tips
Week 5: 5/9 results | 7/9 betting tips
Week 6: 4/9 results and 1 correct score | 8/9 betting tips
Week 7: 5/9 results and 1 correct score | 7/9 betting tips
Week 8: 6/9 results and 1 correct score | 6/9 betting tips
Week 9: 2/9 results | 3/8* betting tips *-one void
Week 10: 4/9 results and 1 correct score | 6/9 betting tips
Week 11: 5/9 results | 4/9 betting tips
Week 12: 4/9 results | 4/9 betting tips
Week 13: 5/9 results and 2 correct scores | 5/9 betting tips
Week 14: 5/9 results | 5/9 betting tips
Week 15: 4/9 results | 6/9 betting tips
Week 16: 2/9 results and 1 correct score | 5/9 betting tips
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Writer/interviewer/YouTuber for Football-Oranje. Massive Dutch football fan from the UK. Follow me @EredivisieMike & subscribe to Football-Oranje on YouTube.
