De Graafschap vs Excelsior Predictions

De Graafschap were beaten away at Fortuna Sittard last weekend, while Saturday’s guests Excelsior picked up all three points at home against Vitesse. There are five points and eight places separating the two clubs ahead of kick-off, but a close game is expected between the two clubs this weekend.

De Graafschap might have had more possession during the ninety minutes against Fortuna Sittard, but the visitors were well beaten in the end and lacked quality in the final third. Lamprou gave Fortuna Sittard the lead in the thirty-sixth minute and the hosts could have been two goals in front at the break, but Semedo missed a forty-third minute penalty.

De Graafschap pulled themselves level early in the second half through El Jebli and Semedo’s penalty miss began to look costly for the home side. However, two goals in the final seven minutes from Lamprou and Ňinaj saw Fortuna Sittard claim a deserved three points. The hosts had nineteen shots during the match, while De Graafschap saw just three of their nine shots hit the target.

Saturday’s hosts have struggled for goals this season and only four of their squad have managed to score in the Eredivisie this season, with Nijland and Serrarens leading the way on two goals apiece. Creativity is certainly to blame for the lack of goals De Graafschap have scored, or rather failed to score, this season, but there are also doubts as to whether or not they possess a striker capable of scoring ten plus goals in the Eredivisie.

Excelsior climbed up to eighth in the Eredivisie courtesy of a 2-0 win over Vitesse, a result which saw the sides go level in the table on twelve points. An own goal from former Hull City defender Max Clark saw Excelsior take the lead in the fortieth minute, and against the run of play Vitesse found themselves losing at half time.

With 59% of the overall possession Vitesse were dominating the match, and with eighteen shots they looked likely to score the next goal and possibly go on to win the game. However, it was Mattheij who scored the next goal to put the hosts 2-0 and end any hopes of a of a Vitesse comeback. In stoppage time Excelsior goalkeeper Stevens was shown a straight red card, but missed the resulting penalty and the game finished 2-0.

Excelsior certainly rode their luck last time out and will need to put in a better performance away at De Graafschap if they are to make it back to back league wins. Messaoud top scores for the visitors this season with three goals, but will be missing from the squad as he continues to serve a three match ban.

We’re confident that both teams will score on Saturday, and have backed the game to end in a 1-1 draw. Four of the last six competitive meetings between the two clubs have seen both teams score.
Both teams have scored in four of De Graafschap’s and three of Excelsior’s last six matches, and we’re expecting more of the same from the pair this weekend.