Sparta Rotterdam vs FC Dordrecht Predictions

Sparta Rotterdam take on Dordrecht this Friday night in a repeat of last season’s Play-off second round clash. Sparta prevailed narrowly across two legs in that encounter, but they should find things much easier this time around with Dordrecht languishing at the foot of the Eerste Divisie table.

Sparta edged out a valiant Dordrecht 4-3 on aggregate in last season’s Play-offs, but it would be a major shock if the Rotterdam outfit were to face as much trouble when the teams meet this Friday evening at Het Kasteel.

Dordrecht are rooted to the bottom of the table after obtaining just a single point from their first six games of the season – and that draw came on the opening night in a goalless stalemate at home to fellow strugglers Helmond Sport.

Since, Gerard de Nooijer’s side have lost five league fixtures on the spin – a woeful run which has included 5-2 and 1-4 hammerings against Jong Ajax and Telstar respectively.

They were beaten 2-1 at MVV on match day six and head into this week’s encounter with likely promotion challengers Sparta at rock bottom, after also suffering an early Dutch Cup exit at the hands of Almere City in midweek.

De Nooijer is seemingly on borrowed time at Dordrecht, and he’ll need a miracle to pull off any kind of positive result on match day seven against a Sparta team that’s been moving through the gears in recent weeks.

A 0-0 draw at Oss was a minor set-back for Henk Fraser’s team on match day six, but prior to that they’d won four on the bounce, with comfortable victories to nil against Volendam (2-0), RKC (0-1), FC Eindhoven (2-0) and Den Bosch (2-0).

Sparta sit 6^th as a result and just two points behind leaders Go Ahead Eagles who’ll they’ll be gunning for in the weeks ahead, with just one automatic promotion berth available this season.

And although Sparta were knocked out of the Dutch Cup 3-2 by minnows Noordwijk in midweek, that result could work in their favour, as they can now focus purely on trying to work their way out of Eerste Divisie.

Fortunately for Dordrecht, relegation from the second tier is not an issue this term with demotion to Tweede Divisie frozen, however they’re likely to be involved in a scrap at the bottom for the remainder of the campaign, based on what they’ve shown thus far.

It’s amazing how much of a backward step they’ve taken since pushing Sparta close in the Play-offs, and we think Friday’s hosts can dish out a harsh reminder of that here.

Sparta look absolute certainties for the win at Het Kasteel, and we’re backing them to do so without conceding. That’s been the case in their last four league games, whilst Dordrecht have scored just four goals in their half dozen league outings in 2018/19. 3-0 to the hosts is our correct score prediction.