Category Archives: EREDIVISIE

Week 30 Eredivisie Report: Ajax close in on another championship

March 30, 2014 Will Burns Leave a comment

Once again it seems Ajax’s will be lifting the Eredivisie title soon after handing FC Twente a 3-0 defeat today to put Frank de Boer’s side eight points clear at the top with just three games to go.

Sunday 30th March 2014

FEYENOORD 5-0 GO AHEAD EAGLES

Even without top scorer Graziano Pellè, Feyenoord managed to hit five past Go Ahead Eagles to move themselves into pole position for the Champions League qualification slot.

Lex Immers got the scoring underway with an excellent powerful low drive from his right foot that beat Go Ahead keeper Stephan Andersen at his near post. The 45,000 inside De Kuip were as loud as usual and push their team on.

However, the visitors should have been level on 20 minutes when a Jop van der Linden free-kick had the beating of Feyenoord stopper Erwin Mulder, but unfortunately for the Eagles defender the post kept the ball out.

Feyenoord search for the second goal but they had to wait until 49 minutes. Ruben Schaken crossed in from the right wing and Tony Vilhena leaped above everyone to head past Andersen to double the lead.

It was three in the 64 minute with Jean-Paul Boëtius scoring his ninth of the season. Attacking on the right-wing again, Schaken and Immers linked up well for the latter to put the ball on the plate for Boëtius to tap home. De Kuip erupted knowing that their side had cemented the victory.

Ronald Koeman’s side were not finished and Daryl Janmaat played in young striker Mitchell Te Verde on 77 minutes for the fourth, and finally Ruud Vormer split the Eagles defence with a ball through to Miquel Nelom two minutes from time and the substitute blasted the ball past Andersen to make it five.

This was the biggest win of the season for the Rotterdam side who are now in pole position for Champions League football next term, with a game in hand on the chasing pack. That game in hand will take place in Almelo on Wednesday against Heracles.

Go Ahead look in trouble and are only one point off the drop zone, they will look to Wednesday’s home game against NAC Breda to give them some breathing space off the others in the relegation fight.

TEAMS

FEYENOORD: Mulder, Janmaat, De Vrij, Martins Indi, Kongolo, Clasie, Immers, Vilhena, Boëtius, Te Vrede, Schaken.

SUBS NOT USED: Lamprou, Van Beek, Vormer, Nelom, Verhoek, Armenteros, Bakkal.

GOALS: Immers 13, Vilhena 49, Boëtius 64, Te Verde 77, Nelom 89.

BOOKINGS: Kongolo 51.

GO AHEAD: Andersen, Amevor, Vriends, Van der Linden, Schenk, Overgoor, Türüç, Rijsdijk, Antonia, Houtkoop, Falkenburg.

SUBS NOT USED: Ter Mate, Ten Den, Kolder, Azevedo, Haps, Pot, Lambooij.

GOALS: None.

BOOKINGS: Türüç 21.

AJAX 3-0 FC TWENTE

Frank de Boer’s Ajax close in on their fourth successive Eredivisie title and now sit eight points clear of nearest rivals Feyenoord.

Twente should have taken the lead after a quarter of an hour after some great work from Felipe Gutiérrez. The Chilean playmaker surged down the right wing and slipped past Stefano Denswil with ease, and as Luc Castaignos was waiting at the back post for a tap in, the ball to him was not good enough and played in behind him. The majority of the 51,117 inside the Amsterdam Arena breathed a sigh of relief.

After Andreas Bjelland fouled Thulani Serero just before the half hour mark, referee Pieter Vink awarded Ajax a free-kick on the right wing which lead to opening goal. Dane Lasse Schöne whipped in the ball to an unmarked Stefano Denswil to nod the ball towards the goal out of Nick Marsman’s reach.

Twente pressed for the equaliser and look likely to score every time they went forward and they should have been level before the interval. The always lively Quincy Promes spotted a lovely run into the area by Youness Mokhtar. When the midfielder received the ball, the angle was too tight and his effort bounced off the foot of the post. Minutes later, Castaignos overpowered Denswil and was one-on-one with Jasper Cillessen, but the striker blared his shot off the crossbar from close range.

As the second half began, Twente pressed forward looking for that equalising goal but it was Ajax that found the net before the hour mark. Bojan Krkic, on loan from Barcelona, has had a poor season but he had a cracking second half for the Amsterdammers and spied a great run down the right from Ajax full-back Ricardo van Rhijn. The defender collected the ball and laid in Lasse Schöne in the middle to tap home with ease.

Seven minutes later, the Spaniard Bojan Krkic clinched the win for Ajax with an excellent goal. With Twente on the back foot, trying to find that defensive cover whilst still attacking got it all wrong as the ball came out to Davy Klaassen on the right wing. Klaassen played the ball into Bojan just outside the area, and rather than look for another pass, the young striker blasted a shot past Marsman to make it three.

All in all a great day for Ajax and this win felt like a win from the champions, and after the last few disappointing performances, Frank de Boer will sleep much better this evening. The Amsterdammers are now eight points ahead and have a game in hand on most of their rivals with just four rounds to go. That game in hand will be played on Wednesday night away to relegation contenders RKC Waalwijk.

TEAMS

AJAX: Cillessen, Van Rhijn, Denswil, Veltman, Boilesen (Poulsen 70), Blind, Klaassen, Serero, Bojan (Duarte 79), Schöne, Kishna (Sigthórsson 62).

SUBS NOT USED: Vermeer, Van der Hoorn, De Sa, Riedewald.

GOALS: Denswil 29, Schöne 58, Bojan 65.

BOOKINGS: None.

TWENTE: Marsman, Bjelland, Schilder, Bengtsson, Martina, Ebecilio, Tadić, Gutiérrez (Brama 71), Mokhtar, Promes (Corona 81), Castaignos (Børven 70).

SUBS NOT USED: Stevens, Breukers, Eghan, Röseler.

GOALS: None.

BOOKINGS: None.

SC CAMBUUR 0-0 AZ ALKMAAR

The resilient Cambuur kept the free-scoring AZ Alkmaar at bay to share the points in a goal-less draw.

AZ missed the chance to leapfrog Heerenveen into sixth but it was the home side should have taken the lead after just five minutes when Elvis Manu hit the side netting with a glorious opportunity.

Dick Advocaat’s side were unlucky not to leave Leeuwarden with the win after Denni Avdic, replacing Aron Johansson in the starting line-up, had a goal ruled out by match official Ed Janssen with twenty minutes to go. AZ were awarded a free-kick on the edge of the box and Donny Gorter lashed a shot into the wall and the ball fell perfectly to Victor Elm who hit a half-volley at goal.

Cambuur goalkeeper Leonard Nienhuis stopped the effort but failed to smother the ball. Central defender Nick Viergever attacked the ball which ricocheted off Nienhuis into the path of Avdic who tapped home the rebound. The referee deemed that Avdic was offside when Elm had took his shot and much to AZ’s chagrin, video replays showed that may have been the case, but it was certainly a close decision. AZ coach Advocaat when ballistic on the touchline protesting furiously with the fourth official.

The sharing of points saw Cambuur stay in 11th well clear of the relegation places and AZ stay in seventh inside the Europa League playoffs.

TEAMS

CAMBUUR: Nienhuis, Droeste, Van der Laan, Bijker, Leeuwin, Van Moorsel (Ogbeche 62), El Makrini, Ritzmaier, Barto (Hemmen 62), Lukoki (Bakker 79), Manu.

SUBS NOT USED: Zeinstra, Pereira, Dijkstra, Schepers.

GOALS: None.

BOOKINGS: Lukoki 76.

AZ: Esteban, Johansson, Viergever, Poulsen, Gouweleeuw, Gudelj, Elm, Ortiz, Berghuis (Gorter 53), Beerens (Gudmundsson 26), Avdic (Jóhannsson 83).

SUBS NOT USED: De Winter, Reijnen, Henriksen, Wuytens.

GOALS: None.

BOOKINGS: Johansson 32, Gouweleeuw 51.

RODA JC 0-1 RKC WAALWIJK

Jon Dahl Tomasson’s Roda are staring the Eerste Divisie straight in the face now falling to 1-0 defeat to fellow relegation contenders RKC Waalwijk.

The only goal of the game came midway through the first half with Romeo Castelen scoring his sixth of the campaign. After receiving the ball inside the area, Castelen faked a shot that made Ard van Peppen slip and turn his back on the ball and the striker drove the ball home past Filip Kurto.

Tomasson’s Roda had their chances to score the equaliser but Berry Powel smashed a great effort on the post and RKC stand-in keeper Arjen van Dijk was in good form saving from Gus Ramos and Guus Hupperts.

As time ticked on, the Roda crowd got restless and just past the hour mark the hosts should have been awarded a penalty by referee Bjorn Kuipers. A corner was whipped in and Prince-Désir Gouano literally rugby tackled striker Krisztián Nemeth down to the ground. The referee and his assistants missed the incident and the French defender got away with it.

RKC keeper Van Dijk was worked for the remainder of the game but Roda could not get the ball past him and it was a poor result for the home side. Roda now sit sixth points adrift from safety and their best chance of survival will surely be trying to move out of the bottom position and into the relegation playoffs.

TEAMS

RODA: Kurto, Ramos, Van Peppen, Letschert, Dijkhuizen (Paulissen 81), Fledderus, Donald (Németh 63), Kali, Sutchuin (Bonevacia 74), Hupperts, Powel.

SUBS NOT USED: Prus, Luijckx, Monteyne, Höcher.

GOALS: None.

BOOKINGS: Donald 57, Dijkhuizen 67.

RKC: Van Dijk, Van Hoevelen, Amieux, Gouano, Apau, Jungschläger, Braber (De Ridder 46), Anderson, Sno, Castelen (Van Mosselveld 85), Beauguel (Joachim 70).

SUBS NOT USED: Šeda, Ivens, Schet, Lamey.

GOALS: Castelen 22.

BOOKINGS: Beauguel 27, Apau 45.

ADO DEN HAAG 1-1 PEC ZWOLLE

In the final game of the weekend, ADO Den Haag and PEC Zwolle played a draw which saw ADO remain undefeated under Henk Fraser but by no means out of relegation trouble yet.

Zwolle arrived in Den Haag buzzing with confidence after reaching the KNVB Beker final in midweek, took the lead after twenty minutes through defender Maikel van der Werff. Stef Nijland whipped in a corner towards the back post and ADO goalkeeper Gino Coutinho misjudged it, flapped, collide into team-mate Gianni Zuiverloon and Van der Werff headed the ball into the empty goal.

The hosts should been level before half-time if it were not for the heroics of Zwolle keeper Kevin Begois. Tom Beugelsdijk met Jerson Cabral’s cross with his head on 40 minutes but the Belgian goalkeeper, diving the opposite way, stuck a leg out to clear it off the line.

Fraser’s side did tie the scoring with a Ronald Alberg wonder goal two minutes later. The midfielder lashed a half-volley inside Begois right-hand post from around 30 yards.

Zwolle should have gained all three points in the dying moments of the game when substitute Fred Benson was given an golden opportunity after Kamehelo Mokotjo had played the striker through on goal. With only the Coutinho to beat, the striker side footed his effort wide of the post much to the delight of the home crowd.

ADO are still just three points off the drop zone and with just four games to go, they will need some more points to feel safe. PEC Zwolle stay in ninth place and with their KNVB Beker final appearance, European football beckons next season if or when Ajax finally clinch the championship.

TEAMS

ADO: Coutinho, Wormgoor, Beugelsdijk, Meijers, Zuiverloon, Holla, Gehrt (Kramer 74), Bakker, Van Duinen, Schet (Wildschut 30), Alberg.

SUBS NOT USED: Zwinkels, Kanon, Buwalda, Van Haaren, Cabral.

GOALS: Alberg 42.

BOOKINGS: Beugelsdijk 56, Van Duinen 74, Wormgoor 76.

ZWOLLE: Begois (Ter Wielen 46), Lachman, Van der Werff, Van Hintum, Gravenbeek, Nijland (Benson 84), Drost, Mokotjo, Saymak, Narsingh (Karagounis 57), Fernandez.

SUBS NOT USED: Pereria, Klich, Hiwat, Mahmudov.

GOALS: Van der Werff 20.

BOOKINGS: Saymak 47, Nijland 50.

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BETTING TIPS, EREDIVISIE, EREDIVISIE PREVIEW

EREDIVISIE WEEK 30 – Sunday’s Preview & Betting Tips

March 29, 2014 Will Burns Leave a comment

Will Burns returns with his betting tips for Sunday’s games and like all his selections, you will not see a ‘best bet’ under evens – good luck!

Sunday 30th March

FEYENOORD vs. GO AHEAD EAGLES (11:30 GMT)

Feyenoord will arrive at De Kuip on Sunday morning knowing that a win over Go Ahead Eagles could take them closer to Ajax who face a tough game at home to Twente.

Ronald Koeman’s only two injury worries are Joris Mathijsen doubtful with a calf problem but John Goossens is set to miss action until the end of April so this should be a very winnable game for the Rotterdam side. The dream of Champions League football next year is very within their grasp, just two points off second placed PSV with a game in hand.

Go Ahead Eagles could do with some points sitting in 15th only four points from the drop zone but only wining twice away from home this season, I cannot see them causing Feyenoord a shock. In fact, the Eagles have been losing at both half time and full time in five of their last six away games in the league. Our best bet would be for Feyenoord to win to nil which is valued at 13/10 at Bet 365.

BEST BET: Feyenoord to win to nil (13/10 – Bet 365)

SC CAMBUUR vs. AZ ALKMAAR (13:30 GMT)

AZ Alkmaar and head coach Dick Advocaat have been preoccupied with Europa League and KNVB Beker competition over the past few weeks. They crashed out of the KNVB Cup on Thursday with a narrow 1-0 defeat to Ajax after some shocking refereeing decisions.

Advocaat will have to pick his men back up to face the challenge of the resilient SC Cambuur at the ferocious Cambuurstadion on Sunday. Cambuur have a great home record winning five or last six and AZ’s away form has been woeful with just the solitary win and six defeats in their last eight games away from the AFAS Stadion.

Advocaat will be aiming for the Europa League playoffs and should have enough quality to keep Cambuur at bay or at least match their scoring. Jody Lukoki returns to the Cambuur line-up after suspension and should be a real threat to AZ but I can see the scores ending level at full-time. Betfair have the draw at 13/5 and this looks to be our best price for this game.

BEST BET: Draw (13/5 – Betfair)

AJAX vs. FC TWENTE (13:30 GMT)

FC Twente have slim title hopes that could take a boost on Sunday afternoon if they can defeat Ajax on their own turf to move within four points of the leaders, although Frank de Boer’s men have a game in hand.

Ajax are seven points clear of third-placed Twente with just six games remaining and they are not playing at their best after injuries to Siem de Jong and Viktor Fischer have forced De Boer to make changes. However, after Thursday night’s hard fought win over AZ and an excellent free-kick from Lasse Schone the feel-good factor should have returned for the Amsterdammers.

Twente will start with two of the division’s most potent strikers in Luc Castaignos and Dušan Tadić, who boast 26 league goals between them this term. However, the guy supplying the majority of the assists Quincy Promes, is a doubt for Sunday’s game with a calf strain.

With Ajax having faltered slightly, drawing their past two Eredivisie games against SC Cambuur and NAC Breda, Twente will match up against the Eredivisie’s best defence knowing that only a win will keep their title hopes alive. I can see this one being a tight affair which I see Bet Victor are offering 11/10 and it’s a good price for Under 2.5 Goals, which is our best bet of the afternoon.

BEST BET: Under 2.5 Goals (11/10 – Bet Victor)

RODA JC vs. RKC WAALWIJK (13:30 GMT)

Jon Dahl Tomasson’s Roda and their Eredivisie status are virtually dead in the water after failing to two away defeats to Heracles and PSV Eindhoven in the last two rounds of games.

Both of these sides are in trouble and in dire need of points. Waalwijk are just two points (27) ahead of Roda (25), with both teams having displayed poor form in recent weeks. Tomasson has lead his side to just one win in the last nine matches, while Erwin Koeman’s RKC have taken a just a single point from a possible fifteen since thrashing FCUtrecht 5-2 in early February.

Both, Roda and RKC will see this is an opportunity to breathe some life into their relegation battle but unfortunately for Roda, I cannot see them scoring as many times as RKC can. Roda have scored just four goals in the last six games as RKC have notched ten. We will look to RKC at 17/5 offered by Bet Victor as our best bet for value.

BEST BET: RKC Waalwijk to win (17/5 – Bet Victor)

ADO DEN HAAG vs. PEC ZWOLLE (15:30 GMT)

Ron Jans and his PEC Zwolle will be buoyant after clinching their first KNVB Beker Final in 37 years on Wednesday night but travel to ADO Den Haag knowing that Henk Fraser has lead the home side to an undefeated six game streak since taking over.

That’s right, when ADO looked to doomed to relegation, Fraser has managed them to three wins and three draws in the last six outings and Zwolle are slightly depleted heading into this one with defensive duo Bram van Polen and Joost Broerse are both suspended.

ADO have struggled to keep clean sheets and I think the best bet looks like a ADO win with Both Teams to Score as Fraser men has not kept a clean sheet at home since November. Bet Victor offer 12/5 for this market and that is true value in what I see a great win for ADO.

BEST BET: ADO win with Both Teams To Score (12/5 – Bet Victor)

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EREDIVISIE, EREDIVISIE REPORT

Week 30 Eredivisie Report: PSV slip as Heerenveen hold Vitesse

March 29, 2014 Will Burns Leave a comment

Saturday 29th March 2014

VITESSE 2-2 HEERENVEEN

Vitesse missed the chance to jump in to second place as Peter Bosz’s men and Marco van Basten’s Heerenveen shared the points in a hard-fought 2-2 draw in a great game in the GelreDome.

Van Basten gave 18-year-old winger Daley Sinkgraven his first start in the same week the players signed new contract with the club replacing Rajiv Van la Parra who was left out of the matchday squad for disciplinary reasons.

The first real chance of the game came when Zakaria Labyad forced a save from Kristoffer Nordfeldt on 15 minutes, and Valeri Qazaishvili lashed the rebound towards goal but his effort was blasted just wide of the post.

On the half hour, Mike Havenaar notched his tenth of the season after Ronald Achenteh found him free at the back post, and the Japanese striker arrived to tap home.

Heerenveen nearly had the perfect response a minute later when Bilal Basacikoglu surged forward down the left and swung a ball into the area for Hakim Ziyech but Piet Velthuizen pulled off a great stop to preserve his side’s lead. Opposition goalkeeper Nordfeldt was called into action moments later at the other end when Chelsea’s on-loan full-back Patrick van Aanholt smashed a low left foot drive but the big Swede got down to protect his net.

The visitors got the levelling goal through the Icelandic hitman Alfred Finnbogason with a superb goal. Joey van den Berg played the ball into the striker’s feet on the edge of the area, the Eredivisie top scorer strongly held off the challenge of Jan-Arie Van der Heijden, kept his composure and fire into the goal.

After the half-time team talks, Bertrand Traoré replaced Havenaar after the Vitesse goalscorer had fallen awkwardly on his ankle midway through in the first half.

The visitors grabbed the lead just before the hour mark after some great work from young substitute Joost van Aken, after being one the pitch for less than two minutes. The left-back surged down the wing and beat Achenteh to cross in for Bilal Basacikoglu to rise above Van Aanholt to head past Velthuizen.

Another substitute brought the hosts back level, Chelsea midfielder Bertrand Traoré with a great finish in the 67th minute after being put through on goal by fellow Chelsea team-mate Christian Atsu.

Both sides pressed for the winning goal but both keepers saved their team. At first, Finnbogason looked certain to score ten minute from time but Velthuizen got in front of the striker’s close range effort. Meanwhile, with just a minute remaining, Nordfeldt had to tip over a Traore free-kick.

The draw helped neither team although Vitesse move up into second at the expense of PSV as Heerenveen stay in sixth.

TEAMS

VITESSE: Velthuizen, Achenteh (Vejinovic 82), Mori, Van der Heijden, Van Aanholt, Pröpper, Qazaishvili, Labyad, Atsu (Djurdjevic 73), Havenaar (Traoré 46), Piazón.

SUBS NOT USED: Room, Bosz, Metalsi.

GOALS: Havenaar 31, Traoré 67.

BOOKINGS: Qazaishvili 61, Mori 84.

HEERENVEEN: Nordfeldt, Marzo, Kum, Kruiswijk, Raitala (Van Aken 56), Van Anholt, Van den Berg, Sinkgraven, Ziyech (Slagveer 90+1), Finnbogason, Basacikoglu.

SUBS NOT USED: Vandenbussche, Otigba, De Kamps, Fazli.

GOALS: Finnbogason 39, Basacikoglu 58.

BOOKINGS: Raitala 44, Van Anholt 72, Ziyech 86, Van Aken 88.

NEC 1-2 HERACLES

The already relegation threatened NEC Nijmegen suffered a last minute defeat to ten man Heracles to stay four points adrift of safety but have played more games than all the other clubs in the relegation battle.

The hosts opened the scoring on 20 minutes as Englishman Michael Higdon notched goal number fourteen of the Eredivisie campaign. Higdon skipped past Heracles keeper Remko Pasveer to finish into the vacant goal.

The equaliser did not arrive until the 80th minute with Australian Jason Davidson making the NEC Nijmegen pay for not clearing a cross. A few minutes later, the visitors were down to ten men as Mike te Wierek was shown his second yellow card by referee Kevin Blom for a bad tackle on Søren Rieks.

With the game heading to a draw, Heracles substitutes Matthew Amoah and Iliass Ben Hassini combining to steal the points. Ben Hassini whipped in a ball to the back post and Amoah was on hand to nod the ball past Dennis Gentenaar in goal.

Heracles have climbed up to tenth in the league standings with the positive results, however for NEC, it’s looking highly likely that the Nijmegen side will be at least participating in the relegation playoffs come the end of April.

TEAMS

NEC: Gentenaar, Vermijl, Nielsen, Conboy, Leiwakabessy, Jahanbakhsh (Castillion 88), Rieks, Štefánik, Koolwijk (Mulder 53), Jantscher (Hemlein 82), Higdon.

SUBS NOT USED: Johnsson, Stutter, Disveld.

GOALS: Higdon 20.

BOOKINGS: Rieks 90.

HERACLES: Pasveer, Te Wierik, Rienstra, Schenkeveld, Davidson, Tannane, Quansah, Bruns (Veldmate 74), Rosheuvel (Bel Hassani 62), Uth (Amoah 58), Linssen.

SUBS NOT USED: Telgenkamp, Koenders, Cziommer, Belterman.

GOALS: Davidson 79, Amoah 90+5.

BOOKINGS: Linssen 62, Te Wierik 74, Quansah 85.

SENT OFF: Te Wierek 83.

PSV 2-3 FC GRONINGEN

After an eight-game winning streak, PSV Eindhoven were defeated for only second time this season at the Philips Stadion, 3-2 by FC Groningen.

With Philip Cocu sidelined for the rest of the season after an operation midweek to remove a benign tumour from his back, his assistant Ernest Faber led the PSV team out for the first time. The team were boosted with Georginio Wijnaldum’s return as he had been out of action since September with a back injury.

PSV exploded out of the blocks and made Groningen pay for a defensive error within the first two minutes. After Maikel Kieftenbeld had gave the ball away, goalkeeper Marco Bizot rushed out to punch the ball away from Jürgen Locadia’s path, the quick thinking masked-man Memphis Depay acrobatically chipped the ball towards goal from outside of the box to make it 1-0.

Two quick fire goals not only got Groningen back in the game but saw them take the lead.After a good run from Filip Kostic on 18 minutes, the Serbian rolled the back to Richairo Zivkovic inside the six-yard box for the youngster to tap home his eighth goal of the season.

In the 20th minute, Filip Kostic robbed PSV defender Karim Rekik of the ball in his own area and fired past Jeroen Zoet to make it 2-1 with two goals in two minutes. The Philips Stadion and the PSV players were shell shocked.

The scores were level at the half-time break as PSV were handed a lifeline on 37 minutes. Bryan Ruiz earned his side a penalty and Jürgen Locadia sent the spot-kick low to Bizot’s right and into the bottom corner to make it 2-2.

However, PSV did not go onto to win the game even though they boasted much the possession and only 64 minutes, Tjaronn Chery hit a free-kick that missed everyone and nestled into Zoet’s goal to give his side the three points.

As Edwin van de Looi and Groningen celebrated, PSV sulked as this was a bitter blow to their chances of Champions League qualification for next season.

TEAMS

PSV: Zoet, Arias, Willems, Bruma, Rekik, Schaars (Georginio Wijnaldum 46), Park, Hiljemark (Maher 87), Ruiz (Narsingh 77), Depay, Locadia.

SUBS NOT USED: Tyton, Brenet, Zanka Jørgensen, Bakkali.

GOALS: Depay 3, Locadia 37.

BOOKINGS: Bruma 21, Rekik 46.

GRONINGEN: Bizot, Hateboer, Botteghin, Kappelhof, Burnet (Giliano Wijnaldum 30), Lindgren, Kieftenbeld, Chery, Van der Velden, Zivkovic, Kostic (Kirm 90+2).

SUBS NOT USED: Van der Lei, Adorjan, Van Nieff, Clintje, Zeefuik.

GOALS: Zivkovic 18, Kostic 20, Chery 64.

BOOKINGS: Burnet 10, Botteghin 36, Wijnaldum 66.

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BETTING TIPS, EREDIVISIE, EREDIVISIE PREVIEW

EREDIVISIE WEEK 30 – Saturday’s Preview & Betting Tips

March 28, 2014 Will Burns Leave a comment

After nailing the draw at 13/5 in last nights game, Will Burns returns with his betting tips for the three Saturday evening’s game and like all his selections, you will not see a ‘best bet’ under evens. If you have a punt on these three in a treble, it will pay a massive 50/1.

Saturday 29th March

VITESSE vs. HEERENVEEN (17:45 GMT)

Vitesse face one of their bogey teams in Heerenveen in Saturday’s first game. The Friesland club are undefeated in 13 of their last 14 away matches against the Arnhem side in all competitions.

However, this is a game that Vitesse needs to collect all three points to stay in race for second place and after last week’s defeat to FC Groningen, Peter Bosz will have to quickly pick his men up. Meanwhile, Heerenveen threw away a two-goal advantage to draw at home to NEC last weekend so Van Basten will look for a better performance in Arnhem.

The hosts have problems is defence with Kelvin Leerdam and Guram Kashia suspended and Frank van der Struijk struggling with a hamstring pull, Bosz will have to ring out the changes in his back four. The likes of Hakim Ziyech and the Eredivisie’s top scorer Alfred Finnbogason will look to take advantage.

Heerenveen have Marten de Roon suspended but other than that should be full strength and well equipped to full off a shock in Arnhem. Betfair Sportsbook are offering 9/2 for a away win and that is our best bet.

BEST BET: Heerenveen to win (9/2 – Betfair)

NEC NIJMEGEN vs. HERACLES (18:45 GMT)

Relegation troubled NEC Nijmegen’s season went from bad to worse on Wednesday after doing so well to reach the semi-finals of the KNVB Beker only to be knocked out 2-1 by PEC Zwolle courtesy of an error from goalkeeper Dennis Gentenaar.

NEC have been unlucky with their stoppers as of late with Gentenaar only making a return to the side a few weeks ago after Karl-Johan Johnsson was dropped due to similar performances. Needing points desperately Anton Janssen’s side host 12th place Heracles who themselves are not out of the woods when it comes to relegation to the Eerste Divisie. The visitors are on 33 points, just six points ahead of the bottom three and could easily get dragged into those bottom three spots.

NEC have failed to win nine of their last ten matches in Eredivisie, however, they have just been defeated once in their last seven at home is heartening. I feel both sides cancelling each other out here and providing a result that neither team would like. Our best price in this one is at Bet Victor who offer 11/4 for the game to end level.

BEST BET: Draw (11/4 – Bet Victor)

PSV vs. FC GRONINGEN (19:45 GMT)

PSV are on a eight-game winning streak but they head into game number nine without head coach Philip Cocu, as the former midfielder had surgery to remove a benign tumour on his back on Thursday.

There is some good news for the Eindhoven side however, as club captain Georginio Wijnaldum should make the bench after a six-month absence with a back injury. Even without their manager on the sidelines, you cannot look past the in-form PSV to take all three points.

Groningen are without Michael de Leeuw and Tom Hiariej with young prodigy Richairo Zivkovic also doubtful for the trip to Eindhoven with an ankle injury that will be assessed before kick-off. Although Santiago Arias is doubtful for the home side, Joshua Brenet can fill in with Jetro Willems returning, the PSV defence should be so strong that Groningen will have great trouble in breaching. And with Memphis Depay and Jürgen Locadia on fire at the moment, I see PSV winning and keeping a clean sheet. Best bet is PSV winning to nil valued at 29/20 at Bet Victor.

BEST BET: PSV to win to nil (29/20 – Bet Victor)

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Week 30 Eredivisie Report: Late drama as NAC and Utrecht share points

March 28, 2014 Will Burns Leave a comment

Friday 28th March 2014

NAC BREDA 2-2 FC UTRECHT

Three goals in the final four minutes finally brought some excitement to the game in Breda tonight as NAC and Utrecht drew 2-2.

The game got underway eight minutes late after grounds men had to come to the rescue when large craters in the pitch had been created by pre-match fireworks. Once the fun and games was over, the action got going at a slow pace. After a goal-less first half we thought we had a goal on 55 minutes but Rydell Poepon was a mile offside when he tapped home from Robbin Ruiter’s save.

The opening goal came just before the hour mark as Danny Verbeek was found by a Kees Kwakman pass and the striker had plenty of time in the area to lash home a left footed shot that gave Ruiter no chance of stopping.

Jan Wouters’ side desperate for points pressed for a goal and on 86 minutes they got their wish against the run of play. Australian midfielder Tommy Oar floated in a free kick allowing defender Dave Bulthuis to cleverly nod home past Jelle ten Rouwelaar.

Utrecht possibly settled and thought they had clinched an away point but Rydell Poepon had other ideas. A minute before time, the striker rose above Bulthuis to head home Elson Hooi’s cross from the right-wing. The effort should have been stopped by Ruiter as he palmed it into the net.

When NAC and the home fans obviously thought they had snatched all three points but Cedric van der Gun stole the point for Utrecht. Mark van der Maarel launched a long ball into the box and after Steve de Ridder failed to connect with an header, the ball fell perfectly for Van der Gun to smash home from close range.

An unbelievable end to the game that keeps Utrecht in 14th on 32 points, five clear of the drop zone while NAC Breda stay in 11th on 34 points.

TEAMS

NAC: Ten Rouwelaar, De Roover, Drost, Kwakman, Swerts, Buijs, Bodor, Matic, Hooi, Poepon, Verbeek (Perica 90).

SUBS NOT USED: Babos, Sarpong, Suk, El Allouchi, Seuntjens, Van der Weg.

GOALS: Verbeek 58, Poepon 88.

BOOKINGS: None.

UTRECHT: Ruiter, Van der Maarel, Delpierre, Heerings, Bulthuis, Van der Gun, Mårtensson, Toornstra (Sarota 82), Oar, De Ridder, Agudelo (Mulenga 66).

SUBS NOT USED: Verhoeven, Diemers, Dorda, Quesada, Markiet.

GOALS: Bulthuis 86, Van der Gun 90.

BOOKINGS: None.

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BETTING TIPS, EREDIVISIE, EREDIVISIE PREVIEW

EREDIVISIE WEEK 30 – Friday’s Preview & Betting Tip

March 28, 2014 Will Burns Leave a comment

Will Burns returns with his selections for Friday night’s game and like all his tips, you will not see a ‘best bet’ under evens – good luck!

Friday 28th March

NAC BREDA vs. FC UTRECHT (19:00 GMT)

In the Friday night game, it’s 11th placed NAC Breda playing host to FC Utrecht who currently sit in 14th, both teams are uncomfortably too close to the relegation battle below them.

For NAC, they are six points clear of drop zone but without a win in five games, Nebojša Gudelj’s men could easily get dragged into the bottom three if they do not pick up points as we head into the business end of the season. Jan Wouters’ Utrecht are worse off, just three points ahead of 16th placed RKC Waalwijk and that is due to just one win in the last 12 Eredivisie matches.

For our best bet, I can’t see either side claiming all three points on Friday night. Last time out, NAC grabbed a great result by holding leaders Ajax to a 0-0 draw and although, the defending champions are not playing at their best, NAC goalkeeper Jelle ten Rouwelaar had an excellent game. Meanwhile, Utrecht failed to hold onto the lead twice last weekend to fellow strugglers NEC Nijmegen. This will an even game with an even score at full-time and the 13/5 price at Bet Victor is our best bet.

BEST BET: Draw (13/5 – Bet Victor)

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Feyenoord could be ready to offload assets in plan for future

March 24, 2014 Will Burns Leave a comment

With Fred Rutten ready to take over the reins at Feyenoord in the summer, the new head coach could have a real battle on his hands in an attempt to keep the current youthful squad together.

Although it has been suggested, should Rutten wish to bring his own players in to match his vision for the Rotterdam club, he will have to cash in on some of the club’s stars to finance his own moves.

Italian striker Graziano Pellè is thought to be the first to pack his bags. Although the Lecce-born hitman has notched 47 goals in 53 appearances, his bad behaviour off the pitch has been frowned upon and the Rotterdam club could receive up to €7m for the 28-year-old.

Three of the younger players in particular have impressed this season and they are already on the radar of top European clubs. However, Jean-Paul Boëtius and Tonny Vilhena are under deals until the summer of 2016, young defender Terence Kongolo (pictured above) has just a season left on his contract.

Feyenoord’s general manager Martin van Geel is working hard on persuading the three starlets to extend their current agreements as they do not want to see them leave in the summer. Vilhena (19) and Boëtius (20) have impressed tremendously this term, with Vilhena managing two goals and five assists and Boëtius notching eight goals and eight assists.

Meanwhile, 20-year-old central defender Kongolo only recently pinned down a place in the starting line-up and he has a total of 11 league outings this season.

Although, Van Geel is desperate to tie down Boëtius, Kongolo and Vilhena, he may be willing to move on some more experienced youngsters. Defender Stefan de Vrij has been linked with moves away since last summer when Premier League side Everton were said to be looking at the 22-year-old.

Bruno Martins Indi and Jordy Clasie are set to be on display in Brazil this summer for Louis van Gaal’s Netherlands. The TV cameras will be beaming the World Cup finals across the globe, which puts these two players directly in the shop window. Martins Indi and Clasie, both 22, themselves have been rumoured to be leaving Rotterdam over the last few transfer windows but are also under contract until 2016.

Portugal-born defender Martins Indi was also linked with Everton as well as Arsenal but a move to neither club has materialised. With young hopes like Kongolo ready to step up into the Feyenoord defence, then moves for Martins Indi and De Vrij may happen come July.

Clasie, has just been named club captain and in recent months has been mooted with a move to England himself with Liverpool. However, before the midfielder signed his contract extension last summer a move to the Serie A with Fiorentina was openly denied by the club. He is the player that Feyenoord can hope to make the biggest amount of profit on, should they choose to.

Whatever happens in the summer, it certainly seems that times are changing for the Rotterdam club, whether or not these adjustments can be positive for Fred Rutten and his team, time will tell.

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Week 29 Eredivisie Report: AZ edge Zwolle

March 23, 2014 Will Burns Leave a comment

Sunday 23rd March 2014

AZ ALKMAAR 2-1 PEC ZWOLLE

After their heroics in Europe this past Thursday, AZ returned to home soil to defeat PEC Zwolle but they made hard work of it.

Anyone thinking that Thursday’s trip to Russia to face Anzhi may have exhausted Dick Advocaat’s side could not have been more wrong after watching the opening 15 minutes. Zwolle were shell-shocked when AZ exploded out of the blocks and went two goals ahead by the quarter of an hour mark.

The first goal was a bit of fluke as Steven Berghuis shrugged off the challenge of Denis Mahmudov to cross a ball from the right wing. The ball looked destined to meet the head of Aron Jóhannsson in the area, but the American striker misjudged his jump and missed the ball. Goalkeeper Diederik Boer was fooled by the miss as the ball crept into the corner of the goal, Berghuis celebrated as the Zwolle ‘keeper look embarrassed.

The lead was doubled eight minutes later, after Simon Poulsen nodded a ball into area, Jóhannsson blasted a shot towards goal but Zwolle defence blocked the effort. Unable to clear, the Zwolle defence had left Nemanja Gudelj unmarked to finish with ease. Ron Jans’ side were crumbling and it looked all over after just 15 minutes.

AZ pressed for more goals but as the half went on they did start to tire and Zwolle got back into the game, against the run of play. Just before the break, Jesper Drost’s cross from the left met the head of Mustafa Saymak, unmarked in the area, and goalkeeper Esteban was wrong footed and was unable to stop the header.

As the game progressed, AZ attacked instead of sitting back and won a penalty after Jóhannsson was fouled in the area by Joost Broerse. The American saw his effort saved by Boer, which was the Zwolle keeper’s third penalty stop this season.

AZ held on as Zwolle pushed for a point, which seems them retain seventh place in the league, and Zwolle are right behind them in eighth.

TEAMS

AZ: Esteban, Johansson, Gouweleeuw, Viergever, Poulsen, Gudelj (Henriksen 76), Ortiz, Elm, Berghuis (Gudmundsson 73), Jóhannsson (Avdic 73), Beerens.

SUBS NOT USED: De Winter, Reijnen, Hoedt, Gorter.

GOALS: Beghuis 6, Gudelj 14.

BOOKINGS: None.

ZWOLLE: Boer, Van Polen, Lachman (Broerse 46), Van der Werff, Van Hintum, Mokotjo (Klich 46), Drost, Saymak, Mahmudov (Hiwat 73), Benson, Karagounis.

SUBS NOT USED: Begois, Pereira, Gravenbeek, Nijland.

GOALS: Saymak 43.

BOOKINGS: Van Polen 33, Broerse 74.

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Week 29 Eredivisie Report: PSV’s winning streak continues

March 23, 2014 Will Burns Leave a comment

Vitesse suffered a shock defeat away at FC Groningen, NEC Nijmegen performed a two-goal comeback to grab a much needed point at Heerenveen as PSV climb into second place with their eighth win in a row over Roda JC.

Saturday 22nd March 2014

FC GRONINGEN 3-1 VITESSE

Vitesse’s hopes of Champions League football suffered a massive blow on Saturday evening after FC Groningen won comfortably 3-1.

Peter Bosz lead his men to Groningen in hope of keeping the pressure on table-toppers Ajax but they fell behind after just ten minutes when the Amsterdammers’ new signing Richairo Zivkovic took advantage of some lapse defending by Guram Kashia. After the Georgian defender mis-kicked a clearance, the 17-year-old forward sped towards goal with the ball. Confidently the youngster skipped past Piet Velthuizen in goal to finish in the empty net. This was Velthuizen’s 200th appearance for Vitesse, but it was to be memorable for all the wrong reasons.

The visitors got back into the game and levelled the game up just before the interval thanks to great vision by Guram Kashia, making amends for the opening goal. Christian Atsu, one of the four players on-loan from Chelsea, showed great composure to chip Marco Bizot after a beautiful lofted ball from the back from Kashia.

After a quiet opening to the second half, the hosts regained the lead in the 56th minute with Nick van der Velden scoring his fourth of the season. Vitesse failed to put a defender on the back post for a Tjaronn Chery corner and Van der Velden took full advantage to side foot an effort home off the inside of the post.

The result was done and dusted just after the hour mark with Tjarron Chery hitting a great left footed low drive from the edge of the areas after Kelvin Leerdam had failed to halt the midfielder’s attempt.

Groningen stay in ninth as Vitesse drop to fourth place, now seven points adrift of leaders Ajax, with the league leaders having a game in hand. The slim hope of their first ever Eredivisie championship has surely now slipped past Vitesse.

TEAMS

GRONINGEN: Bizot, Hateboer, Botteghin, Kappelhof, Burnet, Lindgren, Kieftenbeld, Chery, Van der Velden (Kirm 72), Zivkovic (Zeefuik 86), Kostic (Hagenauw 90+1).

SUBS NOT USED: Van der Lei, Adorjan, Wijnaldum, Cijntje.

GOALS: Zivkovic 10, Van der Velden 56, Chery 63.

BOOKINGS: Van der Velden 70.

VITESSE: Velthuizen, Van Der Struijk (Leerdam 31), Kashia, Vejinovic, Achenteh, Pröpper, Qazaishvili, Atsu, Labyad (Traoré 72), Havenaar (Djurdjevic 72), Piazón.

SUBS NOT USED: Room, Mori, Van Aanholt, Bosz.

GOALS: Atsu 39.

BOOKINGS: Kashia 42, Leerdam 59.

HEERENVEEN 2-2 NEC NIJMEGEN

NEC Nijmegen handed themselves a lifeline in the relegation battle, clawing back from two goals down to Heerenveen to claim a point with only ten men.

Anton Janssen’s NEC, desperate for a good result to help ease their relegation worries, started the better team but against the run of play it was the free scoring Heerenveen that grabbed the lead on 40 minutes. It was a tremendous solo effort from Bilal Basacikoglu as he ghosted through the Nijmegen midfield and defence before firing a low drive past Dennis Gentenaar.

The lead was doubled in first half stoppage time after the tricky Rajiv van la Parra weaved his way in the area and was brought down by Rens van Eijden. Referee Tom van Sichem pointed to the spot and Alfred Finnbogason netted his ninth penalty of the season to take his goals tally up to 24 in 26 games. The goal meant the Iceland international has now overtaken Gerald Sibon to become Heerenveen’s all time leading scorer in the Eredivisie with 48 goals.

NEC were given a lifeline when the in-form striker Michael Higdon netted his 13th of the season with just twelve minutes of time remaining. After Iranian forward Alireza Jahanbakhsh flicked on a Marnick Vermijl cross for the Englishman to take down, control, spin his marker and fire home. The Liverpool-born striker is in real form with the goal being his seventh goal in the last ten outings.

The goal gave Anton Janssen’s men a glimmer of hope of snatching a point but minutes later their chances became greater as Rens van Eijden was given his second yellow for a handball outside the area. However, Heerenveen did not make NEC play and a minute into stoppage time, the relegation battlers stole a point.

After a scramble from a free-kick that Heerenveen failed to clear, Danish midfielder Søren Rieks was in the right place at the right time to fire past Kristoffer Nordfeldt.

Although, NEC remained second bottom, this was a great point to hold the Heerenveen who stay in sixth place.

TEAMS

HEERENVEEN: Nordfeldt, Marzo, Otigba, Kruiswijk, Raitala, De Roon, Ziyech, Van den Berg, Van La Parra (Sinkgraven 62), Finnbogason, Basacikoglu (Slagveer 86).

SUBS NOT USED: Vandenbussche, De Kamps, Fazli, Warmolts, Van Aken.

GOALS: Basacikoglu 40, Finnbogason 45+1P.

BOOKINGS: De Roon 43.

NEC: Gentenaar, Vermijl, Van Eijden, Nielsen, Leiwakabessy, Koolwijk, Rieks, Conboy, Hemlein (Gravenberch 45), Higdon, Jantscher (Jahanbakhsh 45).

SUBS NOT USED: Johnsson, Foor, Disverld, Štefánik, Castillon.

GOALS: Higdon 78, Rieks 90+1.

BOOKINGS: Van Eijden 45, Leiwakabessy 84.

SENT OFF: Van Eijden 87.

PSV 3-1 RODA JC

Philip Cocu’s PSV defeated the struggling Roda JC by three goals to one to notch their eighth consecutive win to fir them into second spot and just six points behind leaders Ajax.

Before Christmas, no-one would have predicted that PSV would be only six points adrift from Ajax but Philip Cocu’s men are now the in-form side in the Eredivisie racking up eight wins in a row is no easy feat.

Roda make PSV work for the win but unfortunately the class shone through and Jürgen Locadia got the hosts underway on 14 minutes. Santiago Arias and Ji-Sung Park combined to play the young striker through on goal to coolly finish past Filip Kurto.

Roda grabbed an unlikely equaliser before the interval through Mitchell Paulissen. The PSV defenders failed to clear a cross and Paulissen turned up on the left side of the area to side-foot past Jeroen Zoet.

Memphis Depay, wearing a protective mask due to suffering a bruised eye socket last weekend, was a threat throughout and on 63 minutes he provided some magic to help his side regain the advantage. Henk Dijkhuizen had a torrid evening trying to keep the masked man’s skills at bay, but after skipping past the defender with ease, Depay fired a shot which was saved by the legs of Kurto. The rebound fell to Locadia and after his shot was blocked, Bryan Ruiz was on hand to tap home for his fourth goal in eight games.

With quarter of an hour to go, Jeffrey Bruma nodded home a Ruiz corner to seal the win. PSV are now up to second place, and look to Champions League qualification although rivals for that positions, Twente and Feyenoord have a game in hand.

TEAMS

PSV: Zoet, Brenet, Rekik, Bruma, Arias, Schaars (Maher 69), Hiljemark, Park, Depay (Narsingh 89), Locadia, Ruiz.

SUBS NOT USED: Tyton, Zanka Jørgensen, Jozefzoon, Bakkali, Hendrix.

GOALS: Locadia 14, Ruiz 63, Bruma 75.

BOOKINGS: Locadia 60.

RODA: Kurto, Dijkhuizen, Luijckx, Ramos, Van Peppen, Fledderus, Kali (Bonevacia 81), Djoum, Hupperts (Höcher 79), Donald, Paulissen (Demouge 76).

SUBS NOT USED: Prus, De Beule, Monteyne, Shkurtaj.

GOALS: Paulissen 41.

BOOKINGS: None.

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BETTING TIPS, EREDIVISIE, EREDIVISIE PREVIEW

EREDIVISIE WEEK 29 – PREVIEW & BETTING TIPS

March 22, 2014 Will Burns Leave a comment

Just four games this weekend in the Eredivisie and Will Burns returns with his selections and like all his tips, you will not see a ‘best bet’ under evens – good luck!

Saturday 22nd March

FC GRONINGEN vs. VITESSE (17:45 GMT)

Third placed Vitesse visit FC Groningen looking to leapfrog FC Twente into second, taking an advantage of most their rivals for second place not in action this weekend.

Last weekend, Peter Bosz’s men great run of three wins in a row was halted by a 2-1 loss to PSV but Vitesse are level on points with Twente in second and are eyeing the Champions League qualifying place. Groningen are themselves chasing a European football hoping to clinch a Europa League playoff place but Erwin van de Looi’s side have been in poor form, winning only one game in the whole of 2014.

The visit of Vitesse will be too strong for Groningen and I see Bosz side sitting in second by the end of Saturday evening. Bet Victor have them as favourites but at 23/20 the price has great value.

BEST BET: Vitesse to win (23/20 – BetVictor)

HEERENVEEN vs. NEC NIJMEGEN (18:45 GMT)

NEC Nijmegen, desperate for points head to the Friesland to face Marco van Basten’s Heerenveen in what I think will be a tight game, but will promise goals!

NEC’s English striker Michael Higdon cannot stop scoring at the moment, notching six goals in last nine outings and he will be the one to watch for the Heerenveen defence. Heerenveen have no troubles in attack with Alfred Finnbogason leading their line. The Icelandic international has now scored 23 times in 25 appearances, so it no wonder he wanted by some of Europe’s top clubs.

Our best bet has to be Over 3.5 Goals. Games involving NEC this campaign sees an average of 4.07 goals per game (the highest in the Eredivisie). For Heerenveen, well their matches are the second highest in the league, with an average of 3.64 goals per game, so it’s a no brainer that we take 21/20 at Bet Victor for our best bet.

BEST BET: Over 3.5 Goals (21/20 – BetVictor)

PSV vs. RODA JC (19:45 GMT)

PSV are on fire and after winning their last seven games you would fully expect them to defeat Roda who sit rock bottom of the Eredivisie and six points from safety.

PSV’s run is largely due to the goalscoring exploits of Memphis Depay and Jürgen Locadia. One, or both, have scored in each of those seven victories and both have 10 league goals this season. However, after suffering a broken cheekbone last weekend, Depay may not feature this weekend, although it is reported that a protective mask has been moulded for the young winger.

Roda prop up the league where goals have been a problem. Before their 3-1 win over fellow strugglers NEC Nijmegen two weeks ago, Roda had failed to find the net in four successive matches. Jon Dahl Tomasson’s influence in 2014 for the side has not had the desired effect as he has witnessed his side scored just nine goals in the last ten matches.

PSV will win this one to extend their winning streak and I cannot see Roda getting past the PSV defence. Best bet, PSV to win and keep a clean sheet which is valued at 11/10 at Bet Victor.

BEST BET: PSV to win to nil (11/10 – BetVictor)

Sunday 23rd March

AZ ALKMAAR vs. PEC ZWOLLE (13:30 GMT)

Ron Jans takes his PEC Zwolle side to Alkmaar after a great victory last weekend at home to Go Ahead Eagles. While Dick Advocaat’s side may feel a little jaded after a Europa League game in Moscow this past Thursday against Anzhi.

Zwolle have found a little form in recent weeks and I can see this continue into a tough match in Alkmaar. With Kamohelo Mokotjo back in the heart of the midfield, he pulled all the strings in last weekend’s 2-0 win at home to Go Ahead. Without him, Zwolle held their own claiming three away victories in their last six.

AZ will be jubilant and looking forward to a Europa League quarter-final to Benfica but I can see Thursday hard-fought 0-0 draw away to Anzhi maybe slow their progress in this game down. Zwolle can snatch a draw and at 15/4 at Bet365, this bet shows the best value.

BEST BET: Draw (15/4 – Bet365)

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Ajax sign Zivkovic

March 17, 2014 Will Burns Leave a comment

Tonight Ajax confirmed that they have reached an agreement with FC Groningen to sign 17-year-old forward Richairo Zivkovic in the summer. The teenager has signed a three-year contract and will cost the Amsterdammers a reported fee of €2.5m while Groningen will receive 10% of any future transfer fee.

Zivkovic was born in the Netherlands on September 5, 1996, to a Serbian mother and a Curacaoan father. He has been at FC Groningen’s youth academy since he was 11 years old.

The tall, quick forward already has accolades to his name, undoubtedly the honour of being the youngest ever player from FC Groningen to score an Eredivisie goal. He notched the goal after just spending five minutes of the pitch as a substitute in the opening game of this season, a 4-1 away win against NEC Nijmegen – he was still sixteen at the time.

Zivkovic made his first team debut in December 2012 however, this season he has already scored six goals to his name – the latest of which came in the 2-1 defeat at Den Haag this past Saturday.

The youngster had attracted attention from all over Europe and amongst those clubs were Liverpool, with Brendan Rodgers reportedly impressed with Zivkovic.

Zivkovic himself ruled out leaving the Eredivisie as he stated he wanted to stay in the country, which all but ruled out joining the Premier League side and Ajax director Marc Overmars has been vocal in the club’s pursuit of Zivkovic.

Talking to Ajax TV, Zivkovic said: “Ajax is a fantastic club with a fantastic stadium, from being a boy I have been an Ajax fan.

“I have good competition here at Ajax, but I’m quite confident as I am someone who adapts quickly. I hope to play as much as possible.”

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Week 28 Eredivisie Report: Ajax held as Twente & Feyenoord victorious

March 16, 2014 Will Burns Leave a comment

Ajax blew the chance of a nine point lead at the top of the Eredivisie away to NAC Breda, as Twente and Feyenoord win to keep the pressure on Frank de Boer’s side.

Sunday 16th March

FC TWENTE 2-1 AZ ALKMAAR

FC Twente moved back into second after coming back from a goal down in a hard-fought late 2-1 victory at home to AZ Alkmaar.

The hosts started well especially young Mexican winger Jesús Manuel Corona who turned Swedish full-back Matías Johansson inside out creating chances but AZ goalkeeper Esteban Alvarado saved his team on many occasions. The 21-year-old known as ‘El Tecatito’ nearly opened the scoring himself on 22 minutes but his effort clipped the top of Esteban’s crossbar.

After absorbing all the Twente pressure it was the visitors that opened the scoring and took the lead on 40 minutes. Steven Berghuis smashed a free-kick on the edge of area through Twente’s wall, with a shot so powerful that goalkeeper Nick Marsman could only palm it into the net.

Quincy Promes set Dušan Tadić up with a great chance just inside the box before the half-time whistle but the Serbian midfielder unusually dragged his effort wide of the post.

Twente emerged after the break possessed with scoring the equaliser and but poor finishing and great AZ defending stopped them from getting the much wanted goal until twenty minutes before time.

Full-back Roberto Rosales chipped a ball through to the Tadić bearing down on goal and the Serb crossed a low cross into the area to find substitute Youness Mokhtar at the back post to tap home to level the scores.

Twente pushed forward for all three points but once again AZ got the number back and defended well until the last kick of the game. After Mokhtar had played in Dušan Tadić on the edge of the area, the midfielder had time to take a touch and lash a shot past Marsman in goal to send De Grolsche Veste into raptures and claim all three points.

Michael Jansen’s side have now cut the difference between themselves and leaders Ajax to seven points. Dick Advocaat will now have to take this defeat on the chin and motivate his players for their trip to Russia on Thursday night to defend a 1-0 lead away to Anzhi Makhachkala in the Europa League.

TEAMS

TWENTE: Marsman, Rosales, Bengtsson, Martina, Koppers, Ebecilio (Eghan 84), Tadić, Gutiérrez, Promes, Djordjevic (Børven 68), Corona (Mokhtar 45).

SUBS NOT USED: Stevens, Schilder, Brama, Roseler.

GOALS: Mokhtar 69, Tadić 90+3

BOOKINGS: Koppers 39, Rosales 61.

AZ: Esteban, Johansson, Viergever, Wuytens, Poulsen, Gudelj, Ortiz (Gorter 70), Elm (Henriksen 68), Berghuis, Jóhannsson (Gudmundsson 60), Beerens

SUBS NOT USED: De Winter, Reijnen, Hoedt, Avdic.

GOALS: Berghuis 40.

BOOKINGS: Poulsen 46, Wuytens 57.

PEC ZWOLLE 2-0 GO AHEAD EAGLES

The Ijsseldelta Stadion was the host of the Ijssel Derby today which saw PEC Zwolle defeat Go Ahead Eagles by two goals to take Ron Jans’s side remain in 8th place in the Eredivisie.

Go Ahead found it difficult as Zwolle look up for the derby and the hosts took the lead just before the half-time whistle was blown. Polish midfielder Mateusz Klich chipped the ball over the Eagles defence where Guyon Fernandez and Jesper Drost were bearing down on the ball and the latter nipped ahead of the former to give Zwolle the lead.

Just after the hour mark, Go Ahead were handed a lifeline as referee Serdar Gözübüyük pointed to the spot after Klich had challenged Jarchinio Antonio inside the penalty area. Eagles captain Jop van der Linden stepped up to take the spot-kick but his effort was easily saved by goalkeeper Diederik Boer.

With just seven minutes remaining, Go Ahead should have given another opportunity from the penalty spot after Maikel van der Werff had his hands around the waist of Marnix Kolder but Gözübüyük waived away the protests. When the video replays were shown, they proved that the visiting team had a point.

However, the visitors kept their head up and nearly equalised deep into stoppage time in unique fashion. We have all seen the goalkeeper come up for the last minute set-piece, but unbelievable Go Ahead’s Danish stopper Stephan Andersen attempted an over-head kick for Van der Linden’s free-kick. The effort hit his own player but was going wide of the post anyways.

Zwolle cemented the points in the third minute of injury time hitting Go Ahead on the counter and on-loan striker Guyon Fernandez notching the winner.

TEAMS

ZWOLLE: Boer, Van Polen, Van der Werff, Broerse (Lachman 77), Van Hintum, Mokotjo (Mahmudov 62), Klich, Hiwat (Narsingh 72), Drost, Thomas, Fernandez.

SUBS NOT USED: Begios, Saymak, Benson, Pereira.

GOALS: Drost 45, Fernandez 90+4.

BOOKINGS: None.

GO AHEAD: Andersen, Schmidt, Vriends, Van der Linden, Schenk, Rijsdijk (Kolder 59), Overgoor, Türüç (Amevor 87), Antonia, Falkenburg, Houtkoop (Godee 77).

SUBS NOT USED: Ter Mate, Azevedo, Haps, Lambooij.

GOALS: None.

BOOKINGS: None.

NEC NIJMEGEN 2-2 FC UTRECHT

Down in the bottom of the Eredivisie, in a result that helps neither side, NEC drew 2-2 with Utrecht which leaves the Nijmegen side still four points from safety.

After a poor display last week, NEC manager dropped first choice goalkeeper Karl-Johan Johansson for Dennis Gentenaar but unfortunately for Gentenaar he found himself beaten after 22 minutes. After Ryan Koolwijk had brought down Tommy Oar, the Australian whipped a free-kick into the penalty area and Dave Bulthuis nodded home to give the away side the advantage.

Just two minutes later, the scores were level with a carbon copy of Bulthuis’s goal. After Bulthuis had conceded a free-kick, the ball was planted in by Koolwijk and English striker Michael Higdon rose above everyone to header towards goal and his effort escaped the clutches of Utrecht keeper Robin Ruiter. This was the Liverpool-born striker’s 12th goal of the season.

The game continued at a fast tempo and just before half-time, Utrecht regained the lead through Jens Toornstra in a strange goal. Hitting NEC on the break, the ball came out to Toornstra on the right-wing, he placed a weak low cross in and striker Steve de Ridder dummied the ball that missed everyone and nestled into the goal.

The hosts grabbed a point on the hour mark as Rens van Eijden crossed the ball back from the right by-line to Jakob Jantscher, with the 25-year-old winger finishing to score his first goal of the season.

NEC stay in 17th on 26 points with Utrecht four points ahead of them in 14th with both in danger of being relegated to the Eerste Divisie.

TEAMS

NEC: Gentenaar, Vermijl, Van Eijden, Nielsen, Leiwakabessy (Gravenberch 74), Koolwijk, Foor (Štefánik 61), Conboy, Hemlein, Higdon, Jantscher (Jahanbakhsh 86).

SUBS NOT USED: Johnsson, Haitz, Disveld, Castillion.

GOALS: Higdon 24, Jantscher 60.

BOOKINGS: Štefánik 79.

UTRECHT: Ruiter, Van der Maarel, Delpierre, Heerings, Bulthuis, Van der Gun, Mårtensson, Toornstra, Oar, De Ridder, Agudelo.

SUBS NOT USED: Verhoeven, Markiet, Ayoub, Sarota, Dorda, Quesada, Van Velzen.

GOALS: Bulthuis 22, Toornstra 45.

BOOKINGS: Van der Maarel 37, De Ridder 76, Agudelo 90+1.

FEYENOORD 2-0 HEERENVEEN

Marco van Basten was left fuming by referee Pieter Vink at De Kuip this past afternoon, obviously frustrated by his side’s 2-0 defeat to Feyenoord.

Vink sent off Heerenveen’s Christian Kum after the defender brought down Tonny Vilhena in the penalty area. Van Basten vented his frustration stating that the penalty and a yellow card would have been sufficient punishment for the defender. The Heerenveen manager proclaimed it was ‘f*cking bullsh*t’ to the Fox Sports cameras.

Of course before this moment, he had saw his side go two goals down to Feyenoord. After a scrappy opening half-hour and quite quiet at times, the visiting goalkeeper Kristoffer Nordfeldt was called into action for the first time on 33 minutes. Ruud Vormer whipped in a great ball from a corner that met the head of Stefan de Vrij, but the Swedish ‘keeper palm the ball away. The rebound fell for Joris Mathijsen but the defender failed to connect properly and the Swede gave his side again to send the teams in goal-less.

Just after the interval, Ruud Vormer opened the scoring with an excellent free-kick on the edge of the box. Stefano Marzo, who was already booked, brought down Terence Kongolo and Vormer stepped up to plant the ball home, leaving the obviously unsighted Nordfeldt completely stuck on his line to give Feyenoord the lead.

Five minutes later, Vormer had another chance to score a free-kick from the other side of the area but Nordfeldt was pleased to see this effort centimetres wide of the other side of the post.

On 64 minutes, the lead was doubled by Lex Immers. After a great long ball from new Feyenoord captain Jordy Clasie, it was collected by winger Jean-Paul Boetuis, he spotted the run of Immers in the area and pulled the ball back for the midfielder to side-foot home first time.

On 73 minutes, came the red card to Christian Kum. Immers and Daryl Janmaat and built the move up well down the right wing and the latter laid the ball into the area to Vilhena to spin in the box and put himself through on goal. Kum stuck out a leg and referee Pieter Vink awarded the spot-kick and gave the defender his marching orders. Vilhena stepped up but goalkeeper Nordfeldt guessed the right way and palm the ball away.

The Swedish goalkeeper kept the score down in stoppage time, denying a great effort from outside the area from substitute John Goossens.

The win means that Koeman’s side are now fourth and eight points behind leaders Ajax while Van Basten’s men stay in sixth on 43 points.

TEAMS

FEYENOORD: Mulder, Janmaat, De Vrij, Mathijsen, Kongolo, Clasie, Immers, Vormer (Vilhena 69), Schaken (Armenteros 78), Te Vrede, Boëtius (Goossens 85).

SUBS NOT USED: Lamprou, Van Beek, Martins Indi, Verhoek.

GOALS: Vormer 49, Immers 64.

BOOKINGS: None.

HEERENVEEN: Nordfeldt, Marzo (Otigba 76), Kum, Kruiswijk, Van Anholt, Ziyech, De Roon, Van der Bergh, Van la Parra (Slagveer 64), Finnbogason, Basacikoglu (Sinkgraven 82).

SUBS NOT USED: Vandenbussche, De Kamps, Fazli, Van Aken.

GOALS: None.

BOOKINGS: Marzo 28, Ziyech 34, Van Anholt 53, De Roon 56.

SENT OFF: Kum 73.

NAC BREDA 0-0 AJAX

Ajax dropped yet another two points in the title race as NAC Breda held the defending champions to a 0-0 draw in the final game of the weekend.

Frank de Boer’s men were once again disappointing and uninspiring and after just six minutes, the Ajax coach probably knew it was going to be their day when they lost captain Siem de Jong to injury. The attacking midfielder tweaked his hamstring while trailing a loose ball in the NAC box and had to be substituted by Kolbeinn Sigthórsson.

Although Ajax dominated the possession they lacked the creativity to unlock the NAC defence to create any clear cut chances and the hosts should have took the lead just after half an hour through Belgian defender Sepp de Roover. NAC pressed forward down the right wing and the Belgian cut inside and lobbed the ball over the challenge of Niclas Moisander and smashed a half volley into Jasper Cillessen’s path. Unfortunately, for the Belgian and the majority of the 18,500 inside the Rat Verlegh Stadion, the Ajax keeper parried and the defender hit the rebound into Cillessen’s legs. A major let off for the Amsterdammers.

Just before half-time, Thulani Serero created a nearly finished an excellent move that was denied by Jelle ten Rouwelaar, and the rebound fell into the path of Sigthórsson, however, De Roover was present to clear off the line.

Ajax pressed for the goal but never really bothered Ten Rouwelaar and the league leaders had to settle for a share of the points.

NAC Breda jumped into 11th place but are still just six points clear of the relegation places. For Frank de Boer and his team, they sit seven points ahead of their closest rivals. However, they are hardly playing like champions and performances will have to improve, or the chasing pack may inch closer than the Amsterdammers would like.

TEAMS

NAC: Ten Rouwelaar, De Roover, Drost, Kwakman, Hooi (Perica 88), Matic, Poepon, Verbeek (Sarpong 65), Swerts, Buijs, Bodor.

SUBS NOT USED: Babos, Suk, El Allouchi, Seuntjens, Van der Weg.

GOALS: None.

BOOKINGS: Kwakman 57, Hooi 64, Swerts 71.

AJAX: Cillessen, Van Rhijn, Veltman, Moisander, Blind, Klaassen, Poulsen (Bojan 77), Serero, Schöne, De Jong (Sigthórsson 8), Kishna (De Sa 61).

SUBS NOT USED: Vermeer, Duarte, Denswil, Riedewald.

GOALS: None.

BOOKINGS: Serero 45, Veltman 60.

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BETTING TIPS, EREDIVISIE, EREDIVISIE PREVIEW

EREDIVISIE WEEK 28 – SUNDAY PREVIEW & BETTING TIPS

March 16, 2014 Will Burns Leave a comment

Will Burns returns with his selections for the Eredivisie for the Sunday’s five games and like all his tips, you will not see a ‘best bet’ under evens – good luck!

Sunday 16th March

FC TWENTE vs. AZ ALKMAAR (11:30 GMT)

Dick Advocaat’s AZ Alkmaar are on a good run, winning their last two games by 4-0 blowing away Heracles and RKC Waalwijk. They also are the last remaining Dutch side in European competition this season defeating Russian’s Anzhi 1-0 on Thursday.

AZ travel to Enschede to face FC Twente whose title challenge has all but gone after last week’s 1-0 defeat at Go Ahead Eagles. At De Grolsch Veste, Twente have a great record this season and are undefeated in their last 13 home matches in the league.

The fact that AZ had a tough game against Anzhi this week and I see this being a deciding factor in this match, although Advocaat’s men are quite capable of scoring a goal themselves. Best Bet will be at Bet Victor with FC Twente to Win with Both Teams to Score at 7/4.

BEST BET: FC Twente to Win & Both Teams to Score (7/4 – Bet Victor) – Click here to bet on this market and receive up to £25 in free bets.

PEC ZWOLLE vs. GO AHEAD EAGLES (13:30 GMT)

After Zwolle went on a run of four straight wins last month, they have failed to pick up full points in any of their last five. Go Ahead Eagles will head to Zwolle oozing with confidence after last weekend’s 1-0 win over top five side FC Twente.

The Eagles do not travel well though this season with only two away wins in 13 games and both of those came against bottom half sides (Roda and RKC) before the winter break. Zwolle have not been beaten by Go Ahead in their last 12 meetings and Ron Jans’ side have drawn their last three home matches in Eredivisie.

I look to Zwolle pick up another draw which will be a result Go Ahead will be happy with. The draw is being offered at 13/5 with Bet Victor and I see this is the best bet in this one.

BEST BET: Draw (13/5 – Bet Victor) – Click here to bet on this market and receive up to £25 in free bets.

NEC NIJMEGEN vs. FC UTRECHT (13:30 GMT)

NEC Nijmegen prop the Eredivisie up and are now four points adrift from safety, while opponents FC Utrecht have only a three point gap between themselves and the drop zone. This is what we call a six-pointer.

A Utrecht win should steer them away, while NEC are desperate to pick up the points to help them keep themselves in the division. The problem for Nijmegen is in defence, they have leaked 15 goals in their last six games while Utrecht are struggling to score just scoring six in six which is bad by Eredivisie standards.

This could be a game that goes either way but I fail to see a stream of goals heading past the excellent Robbin Ruiter (Utrecht) or Karl-Johan Johansson (NEC). The latter will be out to prove himself as he had an horror show gifting Jon Dahl Tomasson’s Roda a 3-1 win last weekend.

Best Bet will be Under 2.5 Goals which is 7/5 at Betfair.

BEST BET: Under 2.5 Goals (7/5 – Betfair)

FEYENOORD vs. HEERENVEEN (13:30 GMT)

Fourth plays sixth as Marco van Basten’s Heerenveen take a journey to Rotterdam this Sunday to face Ronald Koeman’s Feyenoord.

Like last week, the hosts will rely on others to score as the suspended Graziano Pellè serves match two of his four game ban. This game should promise goals as Heerenveen’s forward line of Alfred Finnbogason, Hakim Ziyech, Rajiv van la Parra and Bilal Basacikoglu would frighten any Eredivisie back four.

Van Basten is without defenders Ramon Zomer and Mitchell Dijks so Feyenoord’s wingers Ruben Schaken and Jean-Paul Boetuis will look breach the defence and test Kristoffer Nordfeldt in the visiting goal.

I fancy a Feyenoord win but if Heerenveen fire on all cylinders they may prove to be real test for the Rotterdam side. Our best bet is at Bet Victor with them offering 8/5 for Feyenoord taking all three points but Heerenveen to notch at the other end.

BEST BET: Feyenoord to Win & Both Teams to Score (8/5 – Bet Victor) – Click here to bet on this market and receive up to £25 in free bets.

NAC BREDA vs. AJAX (15:30 GMT)

After dropping two points at home to Cambuur last Sunday, league leaders Ajax will look to this Sunday’s trip to Breda as an easy three points to keep the chasing pack at bay.

NAC are pretty safe sitting in 11th and five points clear of the drop zone but have only won once in their last six games, a 2-0 home win against the troubled Roda JC. It is not hard to see why Ajax are such heavy favourites in this match (2/5 in some markets), and I agree entirely with that although I have not been impressed with Frank de Boer’s men over the past month or so.

The defeats to Salzburg in Europe showed that the Amsterdammers are not as strong defensively and this goal can always be breached. I see a 2-1 or 3-1 win for De Boer’s men but to play it safe our best bet is at Bet Victor with Ajax to win and both teams to score at 2/1.

BEST BET: Ajax to Win and Both Teams to Score (2/1 – Bet Victor) – Click here to bet on this market and receive up to £25 in free bets.

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