Groningen vs Heerenveen Predictions

Groningen ended their long winless streak last weekend with a 4-2 victory in Rotterdam against Excelsior. Heerenveen almost took all three points at home to Emmen last time out, but a late equaliser saw the newly promoted club pinch a point at the Abe Lenstra Stadion. Groningen now play host to Heerenveen in the Eredivisie on Sunday and could move off the bottom of the table if they can record back to back wins for the first time this season against their mid table guests.

Two goals in the space of three first half minutes from Mahi and Doan saw Groningen go 2-0 up against Excelsior, but Koolwijk pulled a goal back for the hosts in the thirty-sixth minute to make it 2-1 at the break. Groningen restored their two goal advantage six minutes into the second half through Cassierra, but a fifty-ninth minute penalty from Bruins saw Excelsior make it 3-2.

The next goal was always going to prove crucial to the end result, and when Pohl put Groningen 4-2 up with fifteen minutes to go he effectively sealed the victory for the visitors. Groningen may have only had 46% of the overall possession, but the visitors had more corners and more shots than their hosts and deserved to take all three points home with them.

Groningen have certainly struggled for goals this season, but last weekends performance in the final third may have seen an end to that problem. Doan and Mahi, who both scored against Excelsior, have moved onto two league goals each for the season and are the joint top scorers for the Eredivisie’s bottom club.

Heerenveen duo Lammers and Vlap both have six league goals each and top score for Sunday’s visitors, while Norwegian midfielder Thorsby isn’t far behind on five goals. Heerenveen took the lead on the half hour mark at home to Emmen last weekend, with Zeneli getting credited with the goal. Heerenveen held their lead into the half time interval, but despite having 53% of the overall possession in the match it was Emmen that had more shots on target.

The visitors left it until very late to claim their share of the spoils, when with two minutes left on the clock Niemeijer was afforded too much time and space and equalised for Emmen. Heerenveen will have been disappointed not to have taken all three points from this game and in part will blame their own poor finishing for claiming a victory.

We’re confident that both teams will score on Sunday, and have backed the game to end in a 1-1 draw. Both teams have scored in four of the last six meetings between the two clubs. Both teams have also scored in four of Groningen’s and four of Heerenveen’s last six matches, and we’re expecting more of the same this weekend.