A new addition to Football-Oranje for the 2018/19 season. Weekly Eerste Divisie predictions and betting tips from writer Kieran Noble. Feel free to predict your own and keep your own scores throughout the season!

This years ‘Keuken Kampioen Divisie’ is set to be the most competitive we’ve seen for years. Three relegated sides of whom are FC Twente, Sparta Rotterdam and Roda JC coming down from the Eredivisie. Not to mention stronger sides in the division such as NEC Nijmegen, Cambuur and Go Ahead Eagles who will also fancy their chances to make a swift return to the top flight. Lets get into it!

  • by Kieran Noble
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Friday 17th August (19:00 BST)

FC Volendam v Den Bosch

Both sides had a fairy stable season last time out missing out on the play offs by only a few points and will be hoping on making gradual progress this campaign. Personally I cannot see either side making too much of a statement this year. However I am going for a Volendam win simply down to the home advantage. 2-0 | Double Chance Volendam

Roda JC v Jong Ajax

This should be a great game for the neutrals and I expect plenty of goals from both sides. Roda will want to start the season with three points however this will be difficult against another strong Jong Ajax team. I expect both to be up there come May. This game will be shown live on Fox Sports NL. 3-2 | Over 3.5 goals

Go Ahead Eagles v Jong FC Utrecht

Go Ahead had the worst possible return to the second tier with a 17th place finish. Helmond were the only other senior side to accumulate less points than them, just 1 less! However I expect the Eagles will have a much stronger year this time out and anything less than a play off spot will be be seemed as another disastrous season. A comfortable win for the side from Deventer. 2-0 | Go Ahead win

MVV Maastricht v FC Oss

I cannot see anything other than a home win here. MVV will be hoping to make an improvement on last seasons 10th place, which saw them knocked out in the first round of the play offs against Almere. FC Oss missed their 40+ goal man Tom Boere last season and it could be the same again this time for them. 2-1

Jong PSV v FC Eindhoven

PSV’s Jong side had a strong 17/18 and will be hoping to replicate that going into this season, I expect them to score a few against an Eindhoven side who will not be expecting much this year. 3-1 | Jong PSV Over 2.5 Goals

Dordrecht v Helmond

Dordrecht had a fortunate season in some sense, winner of period 3 meant they qualified for the play-off first round which they subsequently went on and won against a Cambuur side who were in good form. They missed out against Sparta in the next round losing 5-4 on aggregate. On the other hand Helmond finished last taking away Jong Utrecht so will be hoping to make big improvements this season. 3-1

FC Twente v Sparta Rotterdam

Without a doubt the stand out tie of the round and debatably the two strongest sides on paper going into the season. Neither would have expected to be playing second division football this year and both will be expecting an immediate return. For Twente, no promotion this year and even worse financial troubles could arise. This game will be shown live on Fox Sports NL. 2-1 | Both Teams To Score

Are Twente and Sparta two Eerste Divisie favourites? Watch our season preview for the Eerste Divisie here:

RKC Waalwijk v Telstar

Waalwijk will want to forget last years showing, no senior side won less games than them with just 8 victories. On the other hand Telstar had a brilliant season and only lost 8 matches and just missed out on a Eredivise play off match after a 6-5 aggregate defeat to De Graafschap in the second round. 2-2

NEC Nijmegen v Cambuur Leeuwarden

Another huge game to kick off the Eerste Divisive season. Both sides will want to make a statement and return to the Eredivise. NEC are 2nd favourites behind Twente to take the title so will be interesting to see how they fare this season. 2-1 | Both Teams To Score

Monday 20th August (19:00 BST)

Jong AZ v Almere

Almere will be disappointed that they are not playing top flight football this season. After overcoming MVV and Roda in the first two rounds they fell short to De Graafschap 3-2 in the Eredivisie play-off. It will be difficult to replicate this success again. However I still expect them to have a good campaign and they are my dark horses this year! 1-3 | Over 3.5 Goals




Kieran Noble (20 Posts)