FC Dordrecht vs Sparta Rotterdam Predictions

Avid readers of our Eerste Divisie previews will know that we were cold on Sparta Rotterdam’s chances against leaders Twente last week, but we didn’t quite foresee how cosy things would be for the Enschede outfit at Het Kasteel. Twente bludgeoned their way to a 0-3 success to make a mockery of Sparta’s excellent record in Rotterdam, and blew away any hopes that their rivals had of catching them in the title race. How will Henk Fraser’s demoralised charges respond this week when they take on 17^th placed Dordrecht at Riwal Hoogwerkers Stadion?

After four consecutive league draws since the turn of the year, Sparta Rotterdam simply had to beat Twente at home last week to stay in the race for automatic promotion. But despite going into the match as favourites by virtue of their formidable record at Het Kasteel this term, their bid never really got going.

Twente dominated proceedings from the off, and after Tom Boere smashed home a penalty 21 minutes in to put the league leaders ahead, things soon fell apart for Sparta.

A strike from Peet Bijen on the stroke of half time and an own goal from Bart Vriends five minutes into the second period condemned Henk Fraser’s side to a 0-3 hiding, and they’re now down to 5^th in the table following Jong PSV’s derby success against FC Eindhoven.

The main issue for Sparta though is points rather than position, and they’re now a whopping 11 behind Twente who are beginning to run away with things at the top. It’s debatable as to whether the likes of Den Bosch and Go Ahead Eagles stand a realistic chance of catching Marino Pusic’s men, but Sparta’s race is almost certainly run.

And it’s difficult to predict how they’ll react to last week’s embarrassment when they square off against Dordrecht this Friday – especially as they already have a Play-off spot in the bag by virtue of winning the Period 1 table.

So with complacency a risk and low confidence certain, Rotterdam definitely look like a team to avoid this week – and that’s before factoring in their poor away record.

Sparta have just two victories on the road this season from 12 matches (W2, D7, L3) and they have failed to win any of their last six, with five of those games coming against bottom half opposition (D4, L1).

The standard of opponent this Friday is obviously fairly weak with Dordrecht currently 17^th in the standings and seven points adrift of nearest club Telstar, but the hosts have now won two of their last four following a 1-2 success at Helmond Sport on match day 24.

Schappenkoppen gave Sparta a good run for their money earlier this season in going down 3-2 at Het Kasteel, and that performance along with recent form will give Claudio Braga’s side plenty of encouragement here.

We don’t think Dordrecht quite have what it takes to win this one, but we think they can at least hold what could be a very flat Sparta side to a draw. That’s the logical bet here when you consider the number of stalemates played out by the visitors on their travels this season, and we’re also opting for 1-1 as the most likely scoreline.