Cambuur Leeuwarden vs RKC Predictions

Two sides who’ve made strong starts to the campaign square off at Cambuurstadion this Friday night as 2^nd placed Cambuur take on 8^th placed RKC Waalwijk.

After losing out in the promotion Play-offs for the second time in as many seasons back in May, Cambuur have shown no signs of a hangover so far this term having gained seven points from their first three Eerste Divisie outings.

And The Yellow-Blues will be riding high going into this Friday’s fixture following a superb away win last week.

Cambuur found themselves 1-0 down at half time away to Oss, but a glorious hat-trick from Moroccan Karim Rossi turned things around in the second period to seal victory for Rene Hake’s side at Frans Heesen Stadion, and end TOP’s 100% start to the campaign in the process.

It wasn’t the first time that Cambuur have shown their resilience to claim a positive result this term after their dramatic comeback for a 2-2 draw at NEC on the opening night, and a 2-1 victory at home to Jong AZ in week two means they sit just behind leaders Go Ahead Eagles going into match day four.

The Play-offs will again be the minimum target for Cambuur this season as they seek to return to Eredivisie at the third time of asking, and they’ll hope to notch their third victory from four games when RKC make the trip to Cambuur Stadion this Friday.

Cambuur haven’t lost to RKC since being relegated to the second tier in 2015/16, however it’s Waalwijk who make take more encouragement from the three stalemates played out between the teams in the last two campaigns.

A draw here would definitely please RKC more than the hosts, and it’s a realistic aim for Fred Grim’s charges providing their 0-1 defeat to promotion favourites Sparta Rotterdam at Mandemakers Stadion last week hasn’t halted momentum too much.

Prior to that game, RKC had been impressive in beating Telstar (1-0) and Den Bosch (2-3) in the first two weeks of the season, and Grim’s side look capable of exceeding last term’s 18^th place finish by a distance.

This is a tough match to call on match day four with just a point between the sides so far this season and three draws recorded in the teams’ last four meetings.

It’s worth noting that Cambuur rarely lose at home – they’ve been defeated just seven times from their last 39 fixtures at Cambuurstadion dating back to the beginning of the 2016/17 campaign, and it’s typically only the top clubs in the division who get the better of them on their home turf.

Although Waalwijk look much improved so far in 2018/19, they’ve only won two of their last 20 games on the road which is a difficult statistic to ignore.

So we’re confidently ruling out an away win this Friday, however another draw isn’t beyond the realms of possibility and appeals more as a value bet against backing the hosts at odds on.

We know the teams have drawn three of their last four encounters and 7 of RKC’s last 20 Eerste Divisie away fixtures have finished all square. That’s a fair ratio when you consider the odds on offer here, and we’re also going to chance a 1-1 score line in the correct score market to boot.