AZ Reserves vs Telstar Predictions

Telstar have slumped to 15^th in the Eerste Divisie table after claiming just one point from their last three outings, however Mike Snoei’s side have had to endure a difficult run of fixtures over the past few weeks. The IJmuiden outfit will welcome taking on much weaker opposition this Monday night as they head to Alkmaar to face Jong AZ, and the bookies may well have underestimated their chances of landing a seventh win of the season.

No team in Eerste Divisie had a more challenging November than Telstar, and the month began extremely well for Mike Snoei’s side with back to back 2-1 victories against Go Ahead Eagles and FC Eindhoven on match days 12 and 13.

Telstar struggled to keep up that form though, and succumbed to 1-4 and 3-0 defeats against leaders Den Bosch and Roda JC respectively, before holding Almere City to a 1-1 draw in IJmuiden last week.

One point from a possible nine obviously doesn’t read too well heading into this Monday’s game against Jong AZ at AFAS Stadion, but Telstar have surely been underestimated by the bookies at around the 5/2 mark.

Jong AZ are easily a few notches below the teams that Telstar have taken on in recent weeks, and although the IJmuiden side have been shuffled down the congested mid table order as a result of their low points haul, they are still nine points better off than their opponents and have managed to win three of their eight away fixtures this term.

Moreover, Telstar have a 100% record in games played against teams currently positioned below them in the table (four wins from four), with Jong AZ the only side down at the bottom that they’ve not yet faced.

Plenty to like about the visitors’ chances here then,  and our support for Telstar is strengthened further when we flip things around and look at Jong AZ, who look badly under-priced based alone on the fact they’ve won just one of their 16 league games this season.

That sole success came on match day 5, meaning they’re now winless in eleven outings, and they’ve lost four of their last five league matches, with three of those defeats being by a two goal margin.

So, although Telstar’s record of six wins, one draw and nine defeats this season demonstrates their limitations, they’ve consistently got the job done against the stragglers of the second tier, and they’re impossible to pass up on here this Monday.

The visitors should have too much quality for a Jong side who rely too much on Ferdy Druijf for goals (Druijf has scored 13 of Jong’s 21 goals this term) and we’re opting for a 1-2 correct score in favour of the away team, alongside our main match bet.