FC Emmen vs De Graafschap Predictions

Following surprise wins on the opening day of the season, both Emmen and De Graafschap have lost their last two Eredivisie games and will be aiming to stop the rot when they lock horns on Friday. Since beating Den Haag 2-1, Emmen have lost heavily against Ajax and AZ, while De Graafschap’s shock 2-0 win over Feyenoord was followed up with defeats against Breda and Groningen.

Emmen were handed a dose of reality when they travelled to Amsterdam on Saturday, as Ajax put five past the newly promoted side without reply. Ziyech opened the scoring in the eighth minute and teammate Huntelaar added a second half an hour later to make it 2-0 to Ajax at the break.

Huntelaar scored the games third goal a minute before the hour mark and Tadić made it 4-0 on seventy-one minutes. To add insult to injury, late on Bijl scored an own goal to help wrap up a 5-0 win for the title challengers, leaving Emmen in no doubt of the task they face to remain in the top flight of Dutch football this season.

De Graafschap would have fancied their chances of a second win of the season when they played host to the Eredivisie’s bottom club Groningen on Saturday, but despite claiming 54% of the overall possession and having twice as many shots on target as their guests, the hosts failed to capitalise on their domination.

The hosts allowed Groningen far too much room on the left wing and it lead to the games winning goal, as a looping cross landed straight on the head of the unmarked Breij who made it 1-0 in the forty-fourth minute.

De Graafschap only have themselves to blame for a second defeat in two matches and will need to improve defensively this weekend if they hope to beat Emmen in their own backyard. Both teams sit on three points after three games, in the bottom half of the table, but one could move into the top six with victory on Friday.

We’re confident that both teams will score in this game and that there will be over 2.5 goals scored, with the game ending in a 3-2 win for Emmen. Four of the last six meetings between Emmen and De Graafschap have seen both teams score and the last three meetings between the pair have produced over 2.5 goals. Emmen’s last five games have seen both teams score and have produced over 2.5 goals, and we’re expecting more of the same on Friday night.