De Graafschap vs Sparta Rotterdam Predictions

Sparta Rotterdam began this tie as narrow favourites and everything was looking rosy for Henk Fraser’s side early on in Saturday’s 1^st Leg, after Adil Auassar handed them the advantage at Het Kasteel inside eight minutes. But De Graafschap found a way back in through Nadil Bahoui just after the hour mark, and following a red card for Bart Vriends just several minutes later, the Eredivisie side went onto snatch victory 1-2 thanks to a penalty at the death from Youssef El Jebil. Can Sparta recover in Tuesday’s 2^nd Leg to displace Superboeren in the Dutch top flight?

Sparta Rotterdam will be deeply frustrated to find themselves behind going into Tuesday’s 2^nd Leg – the Eerste Divisie runners-up have been excellent at Het Kasteel this term but they failed to take control of this tie after scoring early at the weekend.

They were punished midway through the second period for not asserting their dominance and things quickly started to unravel when Bart Vriends saw red with 15 minutes remaining. After being in a comfortable position, Sparta were soon hanging on and they succumbed to a winner deep into stoppage time, which puts De Graafschap firmly in the box seat heading into this reverse clash.

De Graafschap have to be commended for their resilience in the Play-Offs thus far – they suffered a long and arduous season being outclassed in the top flight but Henk De Jong’s side have really dug in and showed their mettle across games against Cambuur and Sparta.

Superboeren comfortably dispatched the former 2-0 at De Vijverberg in the last round to seal a 3-1 aggregate success – and that puts a solid marker down here for the visitors who have to win in 90 minutes to force extra time at the very least.

That looks a tall order based on Sparta’s away form throughout the campaign, as the Rotterdam outfit only managed to win five of their 19 league matches on the road.

With many of those fixtures coming against opposition that is far inferior to De Graafschap, we have to oppose the Eerste Divisie club here and we think that De Graafschap will have enough to see things through.

The value here is with the draw though as the hosts don’t need to chase a victory on the night. 50% Sparta’s league fixtures finished all square this season and that’s the result we’re opting for in this clash, alongside a 1-1 correct score.