Eerste Divisie league leaders NEC Nijmegen will travel to Limburg this Friday night to face second place Roda JC Kerkrade, three points separate the two sides going into the match and after a disappointing draw last weekend for the home side against VVV-Venlo, Roda JC’s manager Rene Trost will be hoping that his side can show their class and close the gap at the top of the table on Friday evening.
- By Kalkeren Kieran
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The parkstad Limburg stadium will be presumably sold out for Friday evenings match, the Limburgers pride themselves with the highest attendances in the league so far this season and the players will be relying on the home supporters to come out in force and get behind their team in such an important fixture. It is no surprise that the away section has sold out for the match, with around 1,000 travelling NEC fans making the hour and a half long journey to the stadium.
Trost will be relying on the partnership upfront of Johan Plats and Marc Hocher for the game, who have both netted seven times each this season, another key figure in the Roda JC line up will be Guy Ramos, the Cape Verde international will be one to watch out for as the 29-year-old portrays all the characteristics needed to be a defender in a league full of young talent. His experience will come into questioning on several times throughout the match against a spirited NEC side, although in their last three home matches Roda JC have conceded nine times, a growing concern for the home fans and manager Trost.
The last time the two sides met was in March of 2013, when both sides were in the Eredivisie, and on that occasion Roda JC ran out comfortable winners with an impressive 3-1 win at home, but both sides have failed to hold on to several key players after they were relegated to the Eerste Divisie.
NEC Nijmegen manager Ruud Brood has done an excellent job at the club since taking over in June. It wasn’t an easy time to come into a club in free-fall but Brood has managed to turn things around at NEC and his side lead the division and have already won the first period of the competition, which means they have gained entry to the play-offs. Brood will be hoping his side can secure an automatic return to the Eredivisie and Friday evenings trip to face Roda JC will be a massive factor in the direction of the clubs future, as his side will come under serious pressure against the home side to maintain their three point advantage at the top of the table.
NEC are unbeaten in their last 16 matches in all competitions, a record that began with a 1-4 win against Helmond Sport in late August. Brood’s side go into the match full of confidence after a 6-2 win over Achilles 29 last weekend, but the coach knows that this weekend his team face a much higher quality of opposition. Although a number of faces left the Nijmegen side throughout the summer transfer window the NEC side still includes quality players such as, the competitions leading goal scorer Sjord Ars, the 30-Year-Old Dutch striker has netted an astonishing 15 times this season, the side also features world cup star Alireza Jahanbakhsh, the Iran born attacking midfielder possesses a threat to any opposition with his sheer pace and ability to shoot with ease from range. Another player which may cause problems for the Roda JC defence on Friday evening is the dangerous Anthony Limbombe, the 20-Year-Old Belgian has scored a respectable five times for the side so far this season, but in recent matches Limbombe has been out of form, NEC fans will be praying that he regain his form for the table topping clash.
Pressure is on the home side to return to winning ways on Friday, although the travelling side aren’t unbeatable as they too have problems keeping clean sheets, the Nijmegen side have conceded in nine of their last ten outings, both teams have only drawn twice each in their opening seventeen matches of the season, so a draw would be a highly unlikely result. The match has all the makings of a memorable night in the Parkstad stadium Limburg for the supporters, in their venture to return to the top flight of Dutch football, the match kicks-off at 7pm GMT.
I recommend a Half time/Full time bet with Bet 365 at Roda JC – NEC result @ 22/1, although if you prefer to bet more safely then Marc Hocher or Sjoer Ars to score anytime would be a popular bet.
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