FC Den Bosch vs Telstar Predictions

After heading Eerste Divisie at the turn of the year, Den Bosch have folded pretty tamely over the past few weeks and they suffered their heaviest defeat of the campaign against NEC on match day 29. Wil Boessen’s men were readily brushed aside 5-0 in a worryingly one sided affair in Nijmegen, and they appear in pretty desperate shape with just nine games of the regular season remaining.

The Blue White Dragons need to rediscover their form fairly soon to go into the Play-offs in the right frame of mind, but recent results suggest that there’s little left in the tank for Boessen’s side.

Following a fine 16 match unbeaten run which saw them top the table on 18^th January, Den Bosch are now 4^th and 14 points behind champions elect Twente after losing four of their last eight outings and claiming just six points from a possible 24.

Den Bosch were expected to find things tough against a resurgent NEC side last week despite a confidence boosting 3-0 win over Helmond Sport a fortnight ago, but few would have predicted the hiding that was dished out by the Nijmegen outfit at Goffertstadion. They had no answers as Jonathan Okita blasted in a hat-trick, and morale in the Den Bosch camp is likely to be at its lowest ebb this term.

The result means that Den Bosch have now won just one of their last eight on the road, so they will at least be pleased to return to Stadion De Vliert this Friday where they have lost just one of their last 11.

16^th placed Telstar are fairly soft opponents on paper, and Den Bosch will take heart from the fact that they comfortably beat the IJmuiden side 1-4 in November’s reverse fixture.

Nonetheless, Mike Snoei’s charges are currently amidst their best run of the campaign and they secured a third consecutive league win last week for the first time this season.

Terrell Ondaan’s late strike was enough to bag a 1-0 success at home to Jong AZ, backing up wins by the same scoreline against Dordrecht and Jong Utrecht.

The result enhanced Telstar’s excellent record this term against the four teams below them in the table (W7, D1), but in truth they have been fairly hopeless when squaring off with everyone else in the Dutch second tier.

This is particularly highlighted in their away form, where their record against teams outside of the bottom four reads one win and eight defeats from nine.

So although Den Bosch have been toiling of late, we think they are the most likely winners in this encounter. But instead of backing the hosts at odds-on in the match betting, it may be worth chancing Draw/Den Bosch in the HT/FT market. Boessen’s side have been all square at the break in 50% home matches this season, scoring just ten of their 27 home goals in the first 45 minutes.

The visitors don’t give much away on their travels early on (11 first half goals conceded in 14 away fixtures), so this looks a solid wager alongside a 2-0 correct score prediction.