This weekend is week six of the Eredivisie. Michael Statham continues to provide his previews and predictions for each match. Last weekend Michael achieved seven correct results out of nine as well as two correct scores.
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Friday, September 18
NEC Nijmegen v Heerenveen
NEC’s drab draw with Roda last weekend summed up their woes in front of goal. Right-back Todd Kane was carrying the majority of the attacking threat for a side that have still only scored twice in five games.
However they have been solid defensively. I don’t see them being defeated heavily very often this season.
Heerenveen lost the derby of the north as Groningen dominated proceedings, much like their previous away game in Utrecht.
The Frisians seem much more comfortable at home and must be better at making chances away from home throughout the game and not just in the last 20 minutes of away games.
I look at Heerenveen’s team and think they have lost one player too many from last season. Captain Marten de Roon is the biggest loss, bigger even than Mark Uth, as he was the silent force in midfield that helped stem the flow of teams attacking and started play up from deep.
I fancy NEC to put a good performance together and scrape a victory by keeping their visitors quiet.
Prediction: 1-0
Saturday, September 19
Cambuur v Twente
Cambuur’s stats don’t make for nice reading. They have conceded an average of four goals per game and have only a solitary point so far.
I think they will tighten up, going down to ten men for the majority of the PSV game spells disaster for any side.
What’s more, they also look toothless in attack, top-scorer from last season Bartholomew Ogbeche has only netted once so far and is injured for the match this weekend.
Twente up until last weekend weren’t much better. However they were pretty good against Ajax.
The usual lift that a sacked manager can give a team was present once more as Rene Hake guided Twente to a very good performance.
Joel Drommel, the young Twente goalkeeper, was excellent apart from his mistake which gave away the penalty late in the match.
The Tukkers still have the better team and Cambuur have a lot of work to do, hopefully we won’t see Henk De Jong becoming the second managerial casualty.
Prediction: 1-2
Heracles v PSV
Heracles won again in The Hague last weekend to keep them up the top of the table.
This game represents a much tougher challenge, ADO still created a lot of clear cut opportunities yet couldn’t take them, which is ultimately why Heracles kept the clean sheet.
PSV pulled off a magnificent performance against Manchester United midweek to follow up their demolition of Cambuur.
The team has come on so well in the last few weeks and now looks like the clear favourite for the Eredivisie. Hector Moreno will be a great signing for PSV, he will make the defence much stronger, notably so in the Champions League. Joshua Brenet also came of age in midweek, ousting Ashley Young to good effect.
Andres Guardado’s injury will be a huge miss for PSV but they will have enough to end Heracles’ good run.
Prediction: 0-2
PEC Zwolle v ADO den Haag
I tipped Lars Veldwijk to be one of the top scorers in the Eredivisie this season, he has five goals already including his hat-trick last week. He is a real poacher and PEC’s midfield will create a lot of chances for him.
ADO were very unlucky not to be awarded a goal against Heracles, I didn’t see a clear foul in the build up to Mike Havenaar’s header. On top of that they had many other chances to equalise but simply didn’t take them.
I still think ADO are a good side who should be finishing in the top half. I think they will provide a good test for Ron Jans’ men.
Prediction: 1-1
Willem II v Utrecht
Another game, another blank for Willem II. Before the season started many people would have tipped the Tilburgers to come in top half of the table this campaign but the goals are still missing.
That said, Lesley De Sa really should have found the net in De Kuip when played through on goal.
I don’t think Willem II will finish in the bottom three as they have enough quality to be better than at least 3 sides in the league.
Neverthless their form must be rectified soon as confidence can drop further and finding the first win of the season gains much more pressure.
Bart Ramselaar was the stand out man for Utrecht as they beat Vitesse. He looks like he could be their next big star. He was allowed a free role behind the two strikers which really released his creativity.
On the other hand, Sebastien Haller was disappointing, he was perhaps suffering from over confidence after doing so well in previous games.
I will tip Utrecht to grab another win.
Prediction: 1-2
Sunday, September 20
Roda JC v Feyenoord
Roda picked up another point last weekend to keep their early healthy points tally ticking over nicely. Although they were a little off the boil in attack.
Meanwhile Feyenoord looked a little average themselves in attack. The problem for me was that van Bronckhorst played Basacikoglu on the left-wing when he is much better on the right-wing.
The same issue was also present when Fred Rutten was Feyenoord manager and insisted on playing Jean-Paul Boetius on the left-wing when he is much more effective on the right-hand side.
I think Feyenoord’s defence will be very compact on Sunday and nullify most of the threat Roda possess. I’m confident that they will find a couple of goals too.
Prediction: 0-2
Excelsior v Ajax
Excelsior were easily beaten on the road once again in Zwolle. That’s three away defeats in a row without scoring.
They still lack quality up front to hurt the teams in the top half of the table.
Ajax are playing better football this season as opposed to previous campaigns although they still have an unhealthy reputation of giving away too many soft goals against big sides, especially in Europe.
This was on show on Thursday when they met Celtic. Ajax scored two lovely goals but also gave away two cheap goals and potentially there could have been more given away thanks to mediocre defending of crosses and set-pieces.
In the grand scheme of things, this will hinder Ajax’s performances in Europe and in going for the title, as for Sunday, I think they will win comfortably even though they may suffer from a little tiredness towards the end of the game.
Prediction: 0-1
Groningen v AZ
Both teams in this match lost their respective Europa League ties on Thursday, perhaps to the disappointment of both sets of fans.
Groningen were expected to lose to Marseille yet some fans expected better especially for a team that has grown so much over the last year.
AZ lost in Serbia to Partizan Belgrade. A tough match, but one they need to win if they wish to qualify for the knock out rounds.
AZ have been particularly poor following Europa League matches so far this season and in recent history. A long trip back from Serbia is an advantage for Groningen as they had a home match instead.
I also think we could see the same team that beat Heerenveen so comprehensively in the last league match, hence I’ll plump for a home win.
Prediction: 2-1
Vitesse v De Graafschap
Peter Bosz undertook an interesting experiment in Utrecht, playing an ultra-attacking 3-4-3. It left too many gaps on the wings and the midfielders were struggling to track back when Utrecht hit them on the break.
However if Bosz uses the same system this weekend I think it could work well against a side that can be picked on in defence. De Graafschap are still waiting for their first point and Arnhem is a difficult place to go.
Things will improve for De Graafschap, although this is another really tough match for them.
Prediction: 3-0
How have I done so far?
Week 1: 4 results
Week 2: 3 results, 1 correct score
Week 3: 7 results, 1 correct score
Week 4: 4 results, 1 correct score
Week 5: 7 results, 2 correct scores
Think you can better my predictions? Please continue to comment below or tweet @EredivisieMike or @football_oranje with yours…
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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.
