Go Ahead Eagles vs FC Dordrecht Predictions

After surrendering the Eerste Divisie lead to Sparta Rotterdam last week following a 2-1 defeat at Telstar, Go Ahead Eagles will be desperate to bounce straight back this Friday when they entertain 19^th placed Dordrecht at De Adelaarshorst. With Eagles dropping only two points in Deventer this term and Dordrecht claiming just a solitary point away, this should be a comfortable evening for the hosts.

Considering Telstar had lost seven of their 11 Eerste Divisie games this season heading into match day 12, Go Ahead will be bitterly disappointed to have come away from IJmuiden empty handed on Sunday.

But John Stegeman’s side deserved little in truth and were extremely flat following their 3-0 KNVB Beker exit to Ajax in midweek.  There was always a risk of that game affecting Eagles’ confidence and momentum, and Mike Snoei’s Telstar took full advantage to consolidate their position in mid table.

Eagles are of course still well in the thick of things at the head of affairs, but their second defeat of the campaign and Sparta Rotterdam’s 0-2 success at MVV means they’ve dropped to 2^nd where they sit level on points with Twente.

Go Ahead’s surprise away reversals this term (the first coming at Jong AZ in a 3-2 defeat on match day five) indicates that they could fall a little short and lack the consistency of Sparta and Twente as the season wears on, and they face a real test against the latter at De Grolsch Veste next week.

So it’s absolutely imperative that Stegeman’s charges take three points here, and although confidence is tempered in them slightly from a betting perspective after back to back losses, Eagles should be far too strong for Gerard De Nooijer’s Dordrecht.

The visitors 3-1 home win over Cambuur on match day eight is their only victory of the season thus far, and they’ve been atrocious on the road in losing five of their six fixtures. A 1-2 home defeat against Volendam last week kept Schapenkoppen entrenched in the bottom three and fans can only be grateful that relegation to Tweede Divisie is frozen this term.

One thing that will spur Dordrecht on this week is their head to head advantage over Go Ahead with 18 wins to Eagles’ 14 from 44 previous meetings, and they waltzed their way to a 0-3 success here in Deventer last season.

However, that result can be taken with a pinch of salt based on how poor Eagles were overall in 2017/18, and they’re clearly a different proposition now regardless of whether they can sustain a challenge for automatic promotion.

Eagles have smashed in just under three goals per game from six home matches this term and they should put Dordrecht to the sword, considering the visitors have conceded over two goals per match on their travels.

Backing Eagles to cover a one goal handicap is the logical bet for this Friday’s fixture – the hosts have managed this in four of their five home wins in 2018/19 and it would be a significant shock were they not to win handsomely in Deventer. Like most weeks, Dordrecht are really up against it again here and we can see them going down by a 3-0 score line.