As usual no big bets for the first round since it will be hard to predict how teams will be coming out of their summer holiday. Form can be predicted - but hardly be measured - from the friendly games played during this period where team managers may have tried some new systems. Therefore keep the stakes low but there are a few nice betting angles to find in this round.
SC Heerenveen – Roda JC, 31 July 2009 20:45 CET
SC Heerenveen suffered a big defeat against AZ for the Dutch Super Cup last Saturday losing 5-1 after playing a very poor game. Defensively SC Heerenveen made too many mistakes allowing AZ to rush through the defense but also up front SC Heerenveen does not seem ready for the season yet judging from their relative goal drought in their last five games. The team did not manage to find the net against Olympiakos Pireaus (Gre) (0-1) and Sint Truiden (Bel) (4-0) and drew their games against KV Mechelen (Bel) (1-1) and Trabzonspor (Tur) (2-2).
Roda JC survived the relegation play-offs last season after finishing on the 16th place in the ranking avoiding direct relegation by only one point. Looking at their friendly games over the summer it seems the team is getting back on track booking wins over SK Beveren (Bel) (3-0) and FC Volendam (2-0) and scoring 31 goals in three matches against regional amateur teams and conceding none. The team will be looking to erase the bad taste from last season and they will start with a difficult away game to SC Heerenveen with a good morale in the selection.
NO BET
Willem II – Vitesse, 01 August 2009 18:45 CET
Willem II finished on the 12th place last season and saw quite some players leave the club over the summer. With no important reinforcements Willem II will again be aiming for a strong Demouge (att) with the striker having a goal fest in the first half of the season but failing to continue his scoring way after the winter break. During the friendly games over the summer Willem II booked some very poor results losing from Ajax Cape Town (4-1), KV Mechelen (2-0) and PAOK Saloniki (0-2) and drawing against Go Ahead Eagles (0-0) underlining their dependence on a good and consistent striker.
Vitesse seems to be in form judging from the last few weeks with the team finding the net often and easily. It needs to be said though that Vitesse mainly practiced against amateur teams but with 57 goals in 9 games including those against NAC Breda (0-0) and Lokomotiv Sofia (Bul) (2-1) the confidence in the team is high after finishing on the tenth place in the ranking last season. Adding the fact that Vitesse conceded only one goal in 9 games, the team seems ready for the new start of the season.
With Willem II having difficulties scoring and Vitesse being more than able to keep a clean sheet, $3.60 for the visitors to prevent Willem II from scoring simply have to be picked up.
Vitesse to keep a clean sheet $3.60 (1/10) (Unibet)
Heracles Almelo – AZ Alkmaar, 01 August 2008 19:45 CET
Heracles Almelo avoided the relegation play-offs last season by finishing on the safe fifteenth place only two points above the relegation zone. The team saw a shipload of players leave over the summer with Van den Bergh (att), Bridji (att), Boakye (def), Smit (def), De Vries (def) and Wuytens (def) being the most important ones leaving some big gaps in the starting eleven, especially in the defense. Like in the previous seasons Heracles Almelo will be playing their home games on artificial games, having an advantage over visiting teams but whether this factor will be enough to save them this season?
The ruling champions of Holland will be playing their first game away from home under supervision of new team manager Ronald Koeman. AZ grabbed the first prize of the season winning the Dutch Super Cup by beating SC Heerenveen (5-1) thanks to goals from Holman (att), El Hamdoaui (att), Martens (att) and Lens (2). After two defeats against Hamburger SV (Ger) (0-1) and Club Brugge (Bel (1-0) the team showed to have found their scoring ways again and much is expected from the first game of the season with AZ aiming to top the ranking again and to leave off where they finished last season by grabbing a convincing win.
However, odds for the away win are not that great and considering it will be the first game of the season and the fact Heracles will play on an artificial pitch I will leave this game for what it is.
NO BET
Sparta Rotterdam – FC Twente, 01 August 2008 19:45 CET
Sparta Rotterdam finished on the 13th place last season five points above the relegation zone and behind RKC Waalwijk and VVV Venlo the team is considered the third favorite candidate for relegation this season. Sparta welcomed a new team manager over the summer with Adelaar coming over from FC Volendam and some enforcements were installed at the back with Bakens (def), Boakye (def) and Slijngard (def) being added to the selection. Up front Sparta is considered to have a big problem with the team only managing to find the net once in their last five games against PAOK Saloniki (Gre), AA Gent (Bel), Westerlo (Bel), FC Den Bosch and Haarlem but the good news is that only two goals were conceded in these five games.
Finishing on the second place in the ranking FC Twente knew an excellent season last year grabbing a ticket for the Champions League play-offs at the expense of Ajax. Unfortunately for FC Twente the club saw two of their best players leave to Germany with Braafheid (def) signing a contract with Bayern München and Elia (att) leaving to Hamburger SV. The third player that will most likely not wear the red jersey next year is Arnautovic (att), being desired by Internazionale and a transfer to Italy will be the most likely option over the summer. FC Twente signed some new players as well with Parker (att) coming over from Thanda Royal Zulu (SAf) after playing an impressive tournament with South Africa for the Confederations Cup. Four other forwards were added to the selection but failed to impress yet with FC Twente managing to score only five goals in their last five games against AA Gent (Bel), Schalke 04 (Ger), FC Zwolle, Bor. Mönchengladbach (Ger) and Swansea City (Eng) suffering two defeats and booking one draw.
With both teams having trouble to find the net a low scoring game may be on the cards and therefore my first bet of the season will be the draw between Sparta and FC Twente.
Sparta and FC Twente to draw $3.70 (1/10) (Unibet)
RKC Waalwijk – FC Utrecht, 01 August 2009 20:45 CET
After finishing on the second place in the Jupiler League last season RKC Waalwijk automatically grabbed a place in the promotion/relegation play-offs where they reached the Eredivisie by beating De Graafschap in the final round. The only new player so far is Boerrigter (att) with the striker being taken over from FC Zwolle. Zwarthoed (gk) and Snoyl (mid) decided to seek their fortune elsewhere and since RKC Waalwijk will be working with the lowest budget in the Eredivisie next season there is not much money for reinforcements. During their friendly games the team hugely disappointed booking a win over the amateurs of FC Oss (1-3) but failing to win their games against the amateurs of JVC Cuijck (1-1) and FC Eindhoven (0-0) and losing against Jupiler League team FC Dordrecht (3-2).
FC Utrecht finished on the ninth place in the ranking last season but failed to grab a ticket for the Europe League after losing to FC Groningen in the play-offs. The team signed some important new players over the summer with Van Wolfswinkel (att) being added to the selection and the young striker seems to live up to the expectations this season making a good impression in the preparation friendlies. Goalkeeper Sinouh (gk) is welcomed back on the Dutch fields while Caluwé (mid) and Boussabon (att) left FC Utrecht over the summer to seek their fortune in the Middle East. FC Utrecht will be visiting RKC Waalwijk in their first match of the season and prices well above evens are certainly worth a shot with the quality between these teams being more than the odds suggest.
FC Utrecht to win $2.40 (2/10) (Bet365)
ADO Den Haag – NAC Breda, 02 August 2009 14:30 CET
ADO Den Haag was on the safe side of the relegation line last season with the team finishing on the 14th place in the ranking only two points clear of the relegation zone. The team welcomed four new players over the summer with Van den Bergh (mid) coming over from Heracles Almelo, Waterman (gk) from AZ and Ignacio (att) from the amateurs of Westlandia. Midfielder Schwiebbe (mid) was pulled back from Haarlem and will be given the chance this season to prove himself in the selection of ADO Den Haag. Mixed results were booked during the summer friendlies winning their home games against FC Dordrecht (2-1), Telstar (2-0) and FC Oss (3-1) but losing from the team VVCS (0-4) and Valencia (Spa) (1-4).
NAC Breda seems to be on a roll lately after booking two convincing wins in the preliminary round of the Europe League against Gandzasar (Arm) (6-0 and 0-2).The next hurdle for reaching the last round before the group phase will be Polonia Warszawa (Pol) on Thursday and NAC Breda will visit ADO Den Haag three days later. NAC Breda signed two important players with Schilder (mid) coming over from Ajax and Snoyl (def) being taken over from RKC Waalwijk to replace Mtiliga (def). Games against ADO Den Haag are never easy but given the fact NAC Breda seems further in their preparation than ADO Den Haag and the away record is in the advantage of the visitors, I will take my chances with the away side here.
NAC Breda to win $2.35 (2/10)
Feyenoord – NEC, 02 August 2009 14:30 CET
In a season that should have brought Feyenoord back to the top of the ranking, the team tumbled down a long way last year in another very disappointing season. Team manager Verbeek was already sacked after the winter break and after finishing on the 7th place – 25 points behind AZ Alkmaar – the team was eliminated in the play-offs for an European ticket by NAC Breda. Feyenoord welcomed a new team manager with Been coming over from NEC and with two new defenders, Fernandez (def) and Ignjatovic (def) the leaking of goals must be put to an end. Up front Cissé (att) was taken over from Roda JC and Feyenoord remained unbeaten in their friendly games winning their last two meetings with Sporting Lisbon (Por) (1-2) and Sampdoria (Ita) (2-0).
NEC finished on the 11th place last season but the team gave away a place in the European play-offs after the winter break, tumbling down in the ranking after the news came out that Been would leave to Feyenoord. Although it has always been denied that this news was the cause of the poor results Been did manage to keep his team on the right track with also quite some internal problems. A long list of players have left the club over the summer with the starting eleven of NEC being changed quite a bit. Visiting Feyenoord on Sunday won’t be the most easy game to start with and personally I would be very surprised to see NEC getting a result here but keeping in mind that this will be the first game of the season, the stakes will be low.
Feyenoord to win $1.62 (5/10) (General)
FC Groningen – Ajax, 02 August 2009 14:30 CET
FC Groningen failed to grab a European ticket last season after finishing on the sixth place in the ranking but losing the final round of the play-offs against NAC Breda. FC Groningen saw their key player Berg (att) move to Hamburger SV (Ger) over the summer and also Levchenko (mid), Matthijs (mid), Veldmate (def) and Meerdink (att) won't be present in the selection for the new season. FC Groningen failed to finish their preparation period undefeated after losing their last game 2-0 on the road to Olympiakos Pireaus (Gre) and the team will be looking for their first serious test of the new season playing at home against Ajax in a game that has always guaranteed a spectacle in the previous seasons.
Ajax finished third place last season failing to grab a ticket for the Champions League qualifiers being one point away from the second place after a very poor finish of the season leading to the dismissal of Marco Van Basten. The team welcomed a new team manager in the likes of Martin Jol coming over from Hamburger SV and much is expected from the former Spurs coach. Ajax saw one of their best defenders leave with Vermaelen (def) moving to Arsenal but Jol took along Atoube (def) from Hamburger SV to strengthen the defense. Ajax played two friendly games in their England campaign last week booking victories over Southampton (1-4) and Bristol City (0-4) with the team performing above expectations and Suarez (att) being given the role of captain for the new season. In the Amsterdam Tournament Ajax grabbed a 3-3 draw against Atletico Madrid (Spa) and suffered a 2-3 defeat against Benfica (Por) and the main concern remains that the team gave away the goals very childishly and this will have to change in order to grab the title this season.
NO BET
PSV – VVV Venlo, 02 August 2009 16:30 CET
PSV finished on the fourth place last season finishing quite strongly after a very disappointing start of the season. Team manager Stevens was dismissed during the winter break and with Lodeweges taking over as interim manager, PSV booked some more than decent results and even competed for a place in the Champions League play-offs. The team welcomed some important new players with Ooijer (def) being signed from Blackburn Rovers and Engelaar (mid) from Schalke 04. Culina (mid) decided to continue his career in his homeland Australia and apart from the midfielder PSV has managed to keep almost their entire first eleven together for the next season. During their friendly matches during the summer PSV was not severely tested but managed to book seven wins and a draw with the team grabbing three wins against more serious opponents in their last three games against Brondby IF (1-2), RC Genk (0-1) and Sivasspor (3-0).
VVV Venlo are the newcomers in the Eredivisie this season together with RKC Waalwijk and the team will start with an away game to PSV. VVV Venlo were crowned the champions of the Jupiler League last a season and secured direct promotion back to the highest level after relegating the season before. New players were welcomed in the likes of Gentenaar (gk), Ahahaoui (att), Boymans (att) and Paauwe (def) with especially the latter bringing some much needed experience into the team. During the friendly games VVV Venlo managed to book some more than decent results including a 2-2 draw at home to Feyenoord and a 2-1 home win over RC Genk (Bel).
However, visiting PSV in the first round of the competition is not really the start you hope for to get in the Eredivisie mood slowly and PSV will simply have too much for VVV Venlo. The odds are low as expected and maybe PSV will be good material to include in a combo, but at these odds they are not worth putting large stakes on to get a minimal result.
NO BET
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