FC Den Bosch vs NEC Nijmegen Predictions

Estonian international Rauno Sappinen spared Den Bosch’s blushes at Jong Utrecht last week with an equaliser 15 minutes from time, and the point proved enough in the end to see The Blue White Dragons go top following unexpected defeats for both Sparta Rotterdam and Go Ahead Eagles. Boss Wil Boessen will be keen to get more out of his side this Friday though, and he’ll need to with opponents NEC in high spirits after drubbing in form Volendam 5-1 on match day 16.

Den Bosch took over the outright lead in Eerste Divisie last week, but it was rather by default after both Sparta Rotterdam and Go Ahead Eagles suffered comprehensive beatings across a crazy weekend in the second tier.

Sparta were hammered 3-0 at Helmond Sport in probably the shock of the season so far, whilst Go Ahead Eagles lost their third league game in six via a 5-1 mauling at Jong PSV.

So Den Bosch’s 1-1 draw at Jong Utrecht was sufficient to leave The Blue White Dragons in pole position, but it marked another flat display from Wil Boessen’s charges after their 1-1 result against Cambuur at Stadion De Vliert a fortnight ago.

A slight downturn in performance levels is perhaps no surprise on the back of Den Bosch’s tremendous eight match winning streak leading up to the end of November, but Boessen’s side have to take advantage now with their closest pursuers seemingly struggling.

This week’s opponents NEC pose a definite threat to the hosts, but it all depends on which version of themselves they bring on the team bus to s-Hertogenbosch.

Fabulous at times and awful at others so far this term, NEC had one of their better days last Friday as they pummelled Volendam 5-1 to put an end to Palingboeren’s lengthy unbeaten run.

Brahim Darri spearheaded the success with a fine double salvo at Goffertstadion, and boss Jack De Gier will be hoping that his men can now finally find some consistency to mount a push for the Play-offs.

Fortunately for NEC, they’re only four points behind the top five heading into match day 17, and that’s not a bad position to be in based on their indifferent form and results from October onwards (W3, D1 and L5 from their last nine).

It’s difficult to trust that the Nijmegen outfit will put their best foot forward here though, and consecutive away defeats to RKC (1-0) and Jong Ajax (4-0) is a huge turn off for punters, especially considering they’re taking on a team who are ultimately still unbeaten in their last ten outings.

And if you take the view that Den Bosch’s back to back draws are nothing but a minor blip after their fantastic winning sequence, the hosts look extremely good value in this one to nail an 11^th victory of the season.

The Blue White Dragons are favourites as you’d expect but there’s plenty of juice in their price at around the 7/5, 6/4 mark. So we’re confidently throwing our weight behind the Eerste Divisie leaders and also backing them to win by a 3-1 scoreline.