Helmond Sport vs Roda JC Predictions

Roda JC appeared on course to win their first game under new manager Eric Van der Luer against MVV last week, but they only managed a draw in the end after a blowing a two goal advantage late on. The Kerkrade outfit are now without a victory in five Eerste Divisie starts, but they have a decent chance to put that right this Friday when they square off against 19^th placed Helmond Sport at Lavans Stadion.

The positive injection usually created by the arrival of a new manager was definitely evident at Parkstad Limburg Stadion last Friday as Roda eased into a 2-0 lead against MVV thanks to goals from Livio Milts and Mart Remans, but their defensive frailty and lack of composure was exposed once more as the Maastricht outfit netted twice in the last 12 minutes to pinch a point.

After looking nailed on for the Play-offs just a few weeks ago, things now look extremely hairy for Roda with eight games to play as only goal difference keeps them in the top nine.

Fortunately for them, they take on a Helmond Sport side this week that have lost nine of their last ten Eerste Divisie games and 19 from 30 overall this term.

Rob Alflen’s side broke an eight match losing run with a decent 1-1 draw at home to 4^th placed Den Bosch a fortnight ago, but they couldn’t build on that result against RKC on match day 30 despite leading at the break in Waalwijk.

Like Roda, Sport succumbed to two comeback goals to go down 2-1 and it’s hard to envisage this Friday’s hosts landing a victory again this season after just two wins throughout the campaign.

A slight positive for Sport in terms of this week’s game is that both of those successes came at home, but any confidence gained by that draw against Den Bosch on match day 29 will surely have been eroded by last week’s defeat.

This Roda side have clearly faded since a strong middle third of the season but they should have too much quality for Alflen’s ailing troops here – even though they are without a win in seven on the road.

That form should clearly make punters cautious here with respect to backing the visitors at odds-on in the match betting, but we think Roda to win and both teams to score rates as a decent wager for small stakes.

The hosts have netted in five of their last seven outings at Lavans Stadion whilst Roda have conceded in their last seven away, so we should see a few goals. Sport tend to be competitive in the early stages of games which we’re expecting here, but Roda can come through this to land the spoils and 1-3 is our correct score prediction.