ADO Den Haag vs Utrecht Predictions

Den Haag will be looking to take advantage of Utrecht’s participation in the Europa League qualifiers in an attempt to claim a win in the pair’s opening game of the new Eredivisie season on Sunday. Utrecht have the 2nd leg away in Bosnia to negotiate on Thursday night before the can turn their attention to Sunday’s match against Den Haag and with the game finely poised at 1-1, there is no room for rotation if Utrecht want to progress any further in this competition.

Den Haag will feel suitably prepared for the new season after playing seven friendlies over the course of the last month, in which Sunday’s hosts picked up wins against Honselersdijk, Scheveningen, Laakkwartier, Serooskerke, and RCS, whilst drawing with Kortrijk and OH Leuven. Utrecht have only played the 1st leg of their tie against Zrinjski since the end of last season, a game they would have expected to win, but due to a lack of match sharpness the game ended all square in the Netherlands and now some hard work is needed in Bosnia to see the club progress.

Recent encounters between these two clubs and Den Haag’s impressive [pre-season results all point towards the hosts winning and keeping a clean sheet on Sunday. Den Haag beat Utrecht 5-0 when the pair last met back in April and four of the pair’s last six encounters have ended in a win to nil. Den Haag have won four of their last six matches and have kept four clean sheets during that period, which is why we’re backing the hosts to claim a 2-0 win against Utrecht on Sunday.

Former Utrecht forward Michiel Kramer could make his Den Haag debut against his old club this weekend and what a story it would be if the 30-year-old Dutchman scored the winner. Den Haag have kept the majority of last season’s side together with the exception of Becker who joined Union Berlin on a free transfer and Groothulzen and Lorenzen whose contracts were not renewed. Utrecht spent a little over £1m to bring in Cerny from Ajax and Dalmau from Heracles, both of whom they hope will help score and provide goals for the team this season. Left-back Gavory has moved to Standard Liege, midfielder Gortler has joined St. Gallen, and Kramer and Marsman both left on free transfers.

We’re confident that Den Haag will win to nil on Sunday and have predicted a final scoreline of 2-0 to the home side. Den Haag put five passed Utrecht without reply when the pair last met and their pre-season form suggests they have a great chance of picking up three points from their first game of the new season. Utrecht are bound to be distracted by their trip to Bosnia in the Europa League on Thursday and haven’t had much game time since the end of last season, which we believe will be their downfall on Sunday.