Cambuur Leeuwarden vs Go Ahead Eagles Predictions

Go Ahead Eagles are slender favourites with the bookies to emerge victorious when they take on Cambuur this Monday evening, however John Stegeman’s side will have to overcome recent history having failed to win in any of their last nine trips to Leeuwarden. With the hosts back in decent shape after accruing seven points from their last three outings, things look set fair for a really close contest on match day 22.

After a lacklustre 3-1 defeat at Roda JC on match day 20, Go Ahead got back to winning ways at De Adelaarshorst last week with a 2-1 victory against Almere City, coming from behind courtesy of goals from Paco van Moorsel and Thomas Verheydt.

It was undoubtedly a step back in the right direction for Eagles despite being heavily fancied before kick-off to bank the points, but it was extremely close for comfort and they had the officials to thank deep into injury time as a City equaliser was ruled out for offside.

The Deventer outfit will need to rediscover their best form sooner rather than later if they’re to stay in the hunt for automatic promotion, and they head into this Monday’s tough fixture 3^rd in the standings and four points behind Den Bosch, who posted another emphatic success against Oss last week.

Go Ahead ran out cosy 2-0 winners over Cambuur in October’s reverse fixture at De Adelaarshorst, but things could be very different here if recent history is anything to go by. Eagles have really struggled at Cambuurstadion over the last few years and are without a win in Leeuwarden since the 2006/07 campaign.

And confidence is hardly peaking at present for Go Ahead on their travels with three defeats suffered in their last six away games in Eerste Divisie – form which makes their status as favourites for this Monday’s encounter seem questionable.

Hosts Cambuur endured a huge slump on the run up to Christmas to drop into mid-table, but there’s been a resurgence from Rene Hake’s side over the past few weeks.

They signed off for the break with a credible 1-2 success at MVV, and returned two weeks ago with a fine effort against Eagles’ promotion rivals Sparta to earn a 3-3 draw.

A second half strike from Tyrone Conraad was enough for them to see off Helmond Sport 0-1 on the road last Friday, and Cambuur now hold a firmer grip on the final Play-off position with RKC three points back in 10^th.

Cambuur’s overall recent form at home is a concern here though – they’ve only managed two points from their last four outings after winning five of their first seven, so odds of under 2/1 for them to beat Eerste Divisie’s current 3^rd best team are a little on the skinny side, even though they gave their absolute all in that aforementioned thriller with 4^th placed Sparta a fortnight ago.

Punters should approach the match betting with caution in this fixture with enough doubt cast over both teams, and we’re recommending minimum stakes only on a stalemate at full time, with 1-1 our favoured scoreline in anticipation that the sides will largely cancel each other out.