Telstar vs Almere City FC Predictions

After a 2-0 away defeat to Oss on match day 14 and a disappointing 1-1 draw at home to Dordrecht last week, Almere City have dropped out of the Eerste Divisie top five and desperately need a win this Friday in IJmuiden to get back on track. They face a Telstar side that have lost nine of their 15 league games this season, including 1-4 and 3-0 drubbings against Den Bosch and Roda JC over the past fortnight.

Almere City’s Kevin Luckassen went from hero to villain against Dordrecht last Friday, as Michele Santoni’s side dropped two crucial points at Yanmar Stadion.

Luckassen gave City the lead 15 minutes in but was sent off for a second bookable offence midway through the second half, which gave Dordrecht the impetus they needed to get back into the contest as Oussama Zamouri struck Schappenkoppen’s equaliser 18 minutes from time.

The result means that City remain 6^th in the table following their 2-0 defeat at 4^th placed Oss on match day 14, and they need a victory against Telstar this Friday to at least remain in touch with the Play-off places ahead of a daunting trip to co-leaders Sparta Rotterdam next week.

City have accrued a decent 13 points from their seven away league fixtures this term, but they have only managed one win from their last four trips and that came against bottom club Helmond Sport on match day 13 (1-2). With that aforementioned defeat to Oss alongside a 2-2 draw at Volendam and 1-0 loss at Twente, it’s clear that Almere have not been in the good shape recently.

Fortunately for Santoni’s side, they square off here against a Telstar outfit whose confidence must be at rock bottom after two hammerings over the past fortnight.

Mike Snoei’s men were knocked over 1-4 at IJmuiden Stadion by Den Bosch on match day 14 and went on to suffer a 3-0 trouncing at Roda JC last week.

It means Telstar have now lost nine of their 15 league fixtures this season, the same amount of defeats endured by whipping boys Helmond Sport, and a run to the Play-offs again this term appears highly unlikely despite the fact we have 23 matches to go.

Telstar have some easier fixtures coming up against the likes of Sport and Jong AZ which means they could well improve upon their 14^th place by Christmas, but it’s hard to fancy them getting anything more than a draw this Friday despite the encouragement they’ll take from the league double they completed over City in 2017/18.

Indeed, the 4-0 pummelling they dished out to City here last season also puts us off the visitors who lack compelling claims for this fixture, so we’ll instead back another high scoring affair between these two teams.

Four of the last six meetings have featured over 3.5 goals, and that’s our bet here alongside a 2-2 correct score.