Roda JC vs Sparta Rotterdam Predictions

On a weekend where many of the top sides in Eerste Divisie slipped up, Sparta Rotterdam took advantage in fine style with a dominant 3-0 success over Cambuur at Het Kasteel. Henk Fraser’s men now co-lead the division on 20 points alongside Almere City and Go Ahead Eagles, and with those rivals playing each other on match day ten, Sparta could move clear with a win over inconsistent Roda JC.

With Almere City only managing a 2-2 draw at Volendam on Friday night, it was imperative that Sparta Rotterdam made the most of things at home to Cambuur last Sunday. It only took seven minutes for them to force a breakthrough via an own goal from David Sambissa, and the result was never in doubt from that point.

Lars Veldwijk notched his fifth goal of the campaign to double Sparta’s lead before the break and Mohamed Rayhi sealed a tremendous 3-0 victory late in the second half.

It was a dominant display from Sparta (they had 23 shots on goal in total) who are looking better by the week, and the result means it’s now six wins and two draws from their last eight Eerste Divisie fixtures having suffered their only defeat of the season against Twente on the opening night.

Sparta head to Kerkrade this Friday evening as favourites to land another three points and it’s clear to see why based on their hot streak and Roda JC’s recent woes.

The season started brightly for Roda with back to back 2-1 wins against Almere City and defending champions Jong Ajax, but it’s been a major struggle since with the club failing to find any kind of consistency.

Robert Molenaar’s men have won two, drawn one and lost four of their last seven league outings, and that run has seen them slump into the bottom half of Eerste Divisie.

They were humiliated 3-0 at Go Ahead Eagles last weekend having blown a 2-0 lead against Jong PSV on match day eight, and things look rather bleak at present for Molenaar who could soon be fighting to save his job.

Both of these teams were amongst the favourites for automatic promotion and an instant return to Eredivisie after relegation last term, but it’s clear there’s only one team who’ve adapted well to life in the second tier and who are focused on getting the job done.

One potential saving grace for Roda ahead of this week’s fixture is the fact that Rotterdam have been fairly ordinary overall on the road with just five points collected from a possible 12 – a perfect home record of five from five the key reason why Sparta are currently co-leaders.

But Roda have been even more underwhelming at Parkstad Limburg Stadion with just one win and a draw from four outings, and it’s hard to see how they’ll cope this Friday against such a good side with the pressure ramped up.

So we’re going for an away win here as we expect Sparta’s momentum to keep growing. Henk Fraser’s charges won 0-2 in Kerkrade back in March and seem to be the class act in Eerste Divisie at the moment, so they can extend their unbeaten run to nine matches with a 1-2 triumph.