NEC Nijmegen vs Ajax Reserves Predictions

NEC turned in a decent display at Het Kasteel last week but they ultimately left Rotterdam empty handed following Ragnar Ache’s first half winner for Sparta. Jack De Gier’s men will be keen to get back on track this Friday in Nijmegen to boost their Play-off challenge and they are fancied to do just that, with opponents Jong Ajax in a real slump after failing to see off bottom side Jong Utrecht on match day 30.

NEC will feel that they deserved a draw from their encounter with 2^nd placed Sparta last weekend however Jack De Gier’s charges shouldn’t be too downhearted. They established some real momentum by going nine games without defeat prior to their trip to Rotterdam, and they more than matched Henk Fraser’s in form side who will be rated as the favourites to gain one of the two promotion spots available via the Play-offs in May.

If anything, the performance should give NEC confidence that they don’t have too much of a gap to bridge to be in with a shout of reaching Eredivisie, but they do of course have to make the top nine to be involved at the end of the regular season.

With a couple of other results working against them on match day 30, NEC have slipped to 13^th in the Eerste Divisie standings but they are just two points shy of 9^th placed Cambuur and 8^th placed Roda JC with eight fixture left to play.

With fixtures upcoming against bottom four sides Helmond Sport and Jong AZ prior to Easter, the Nijmegen outfit should find themselves in a much healthier position soon.

And this week’s clash with reigning champs Jong Ajax is definitely a contest which NEC should be aiming to win.

After pounding 4^th placed Den Bosch 5-0 a fortnight ago, the hosts have now won their last four outings at Goffertstadion by an aggregate score of 15-1, whilst their opponents head into match day 31 without a victory in their last four league appearances.

Michael Reiziger’s side had to settle for a 3-3 draw at home to Jong Utrecht last week after sloppily surrendering a 2-0 lead, and they have had problems on their travels for the majority of the campaign which is the key reason why a title defence has never materialised.

Jong have lost seven of their last 12 on the road including a 2-1 defeat against Oss a fortnight ago and overall it’s difficult to foresee them getting anything here in their current state.

The visitors dispatched NEC 4-0 in November’s reverse fixture which is an obvious concern here for backers, but it’s important to remember that NEC were playing woefully a few months ago whilst Jong are usually a completely different proposition at Sportpark De Toekomst – they have banked 28 points in Amsterdam this season compared to just 15 away.

So we’re recommending a three point stake on NEC to land an important victory here and we think 3-1 is worth a stab in the correct score market.