VVV vs Groningen Predictions

VVV lost some ground on the teams directly above them as they were convincingly beaten by Heracles, but Sunday’s hosts remain in seventh place and will be looking to bounce back with three points against struggling Groningen. The visitors remain third from bottom, occupying one of the relegation places, despite hammering Breda 5-2 on Sunday, but have closed the gap on three of the teams above them and could move eleventh win a win this weekend.

Heracles returned to winning ways in style by thrashing VVV 4-1. Dalmau struck the only goal of the first half in the third minute to hand Heracles a 1-0 lead at the break, but just four minutes after the restart Duarte scored for the hosts to make it 2-0. A penalty six minutes later saw top scorer Peterson add to Heracles’ lead, but VVV did manage to pull a goal back shortly after through Röseler. The hosts responded well and soon their advantage was back up to three goals when Duarte secured his brace and all three points for Heracles.

VVV can’t have too many complaints about the result or the final score as they were dominated from start to finish by their hosts and just have to put that game behind them and move on. Mlapa remains the clubs top scorer in the league this season with five goals to his name so far, but teammate Sušić has chipped in with three goals, two of which came from the penalty spot.

A thrilling match at the Hitachi Capital Mobility Stadium last weekend between Groningen and their guests Breda produced seven goals, despite many believing the game would end up being a typical relegation 6-pointer – nervy, hard to watch, and little to talk about after the final whistle. Mahi’s sixth minute strike set the tone for the afternoon as the Moroccan international put Groningen 1-0 up, but the teams would go in level at the break thanks to Rosheuvel’s sixteenth minute equaliser for bottom of the table Breda.

The home fans must had been worried when te Vrede put Breda 2-1 up in the fifty-sixth minute, but Groningen responded in perfect fashion by levelling the scores two minute later through Doan and then went to score three more times in the final fourteen minutes to wrap up a 5-2 win. Zeefuik was the first to score and then Mahi helped himself to his brace, before Memišević completed the scoring in the final minute of the ninety.

That’s three wins from the last four matches for Groningen and the hosts turnaround in fortunes has coincided with the excellent form of Japan’s Doan and talisman Mahi, both of whom now joint top score for Sunday’s guests with four Eredivisie goals each. A victory for Groningen would see them move to within three points of VVV, and if that happens then the visitors will soon be looking ahead to the European places instead of behind them at the relegation zone.

We’re confident that Groningen will take something from this game and have backed the visitors with a double chance bet, and for the game to end in a 1-1 draw. The last four matches between VVV and Groningen have ended in a draw. The visitors have won three of their last four matches, while VVV have won just one of their last five matches, drawing twice, and losing twice. Groningen have avoided defeat in 69% of their games against VVV, and we wouldn’t be surprised to see the visitors take all three points with the way they have been playing of late, but have hedged our bets by backing the double chance as the most likely result is a draw.