NEC Nijmegen vs RKC Predictions

We’re finally at the business end of the Eerste Divisie campaign and the Play-off action kicks off this Friday tea-time at Goffertstadion between two sides who faced each other just three weeks ago during the regular season. NEC edged matters 2-1 on that occasion to make it four straight home wins against RKC, but Ron de Groot’s improving team will be seeking victory by a wider margin here to give themselves a buffer going into Tuesday’s reverse encounter in Waalwijk.

NEC undoubtedly suffered a Play-off hangover this term – they were narrowly ousted 5-4 on aggregate by FC Emmen last year and were never really able to handle the favourites tag for automatic promotion this time around.

Despite a decent start to the campaign, NEC’s form plummeted, thanks mainly to a porous rear guard that was low on confidence, and they found themselves out with the washing in 15^th just a couple of months ago.

Things have picked up rapidly though for the Nijmegen outfit since Ron de Groot replaced the outgoing Jack De Gier as manager at the start of April, and a fine run of five wins and a draw from their last six matches saw NEC safely through to the Play-Off’s in 9^th.

De Groot’s men are clearly one of the form sides going into this promotion shoot-out and they will back themselves to establish a decent lead in Friday’s 1^st leg after bagging seven victories from their last eight fixtures at Goffertstadion. Four of those wins have been posted by a three goal margin or more, and something similar this Friday will put NEC well in the box seat for Tuesday’s 2^nd leg at Mandemakers Stadion.

Confidence will be further bolstered by the fact that they have beaten RKC in each of the last four meetings in Nijmegen; however a repeat of the 2-1 scoreline on April 22 would probably leave Fred Grim as the happier of the two managers.

RKC finished just one point ahead of NEC in 8^th and it’s fair to say that the Waalwijk side have made giant strides this term after slumping to an 18^th place finish in 2017/18.

Things took a while to get going for Grim’s charges who were in the bottom six at the turn of the year, but they have been a model of consistency in 2019 by this league’s standards, winning 11 and drawing three of their last 19 fixtures.

They travel to Nijmegen in good spirits after closing the regular season with back to back successes against Go Ahead Eagles (1-4) and FC Eindhoven and they have won six of their last ten games on the road.

The visitors beat champions Twente 4-1 last month to further prove that they are capable of matching anyone on their day, and they are definitely slippery opponents for NEC here, who have been installed as the bookies’ favourites.

We think this is a really tight tie to call overall. However, NEC’s recent form and home record against RKC just slightly tips things in their favour for us in this 1^st leg. We really don’t think there will be much in it, as per between the sides (neither has won by more than a two goal margin in the last 27 encounters) so we’re also opting for another 2-1 correct score in NEC’s favour.