RKC vs Cambuur Leeuwarden Predictions

Following a tremendous spell which saw RKC win nine of their 11 Eerste Divisie games between early November and early February, things have slightly hit the buffers of late for Fred Grim’s side. A solitary point gained from fixtures against Almere City, Volendam and Sparta Rotterdam means that the Waalwijk outfit have now fallen outside of the Play-off places, and they will be desperate to get their season back on track when they entertain Cambuur at Mandemakers Stadion this week.

RKC performed extremely well against 2^nd placed Sparta Rotterdam on match day 27, and the Waalwijk side will have been bitterly disappointed to come away from Het Kasteel empty handed.

They appeared on course to inflict Sparta’s second home defeat of the campaign after Sylla Sow’s strike half an hour into the contest, but late goals from Laros Duarte and Halil Dervisoglu turned things around in dramatic style for Henk Fraser’s charges.

The result leaves RKC in 11^th heading into this Friday’s home fixture against Cambuur, and it will be interesting to see how Fred Grim’s team respond having been unable to hang on for at least a point in Rotterdam.

This has to go down as a must win fixture for RKC with several teams scrapping it out for the Play-offs in and around mid-table, and the hosts should have too much quality for the struggling visitors providing they are spurred on by last week’s events.

Cambuur looked like potential promotion candidates at the start of the campaign and managed to beat RKC 2-0 in Leeuwarden on match day 4, but things rapidly went south for Rene Hake’s side.

After winning four out of their first five league games, Cambuur have won just five times since from 22 outings and travel to Waalwijk here without a win in six.

They have been bested by the likes of 17^th placed Dordrecht (1-3) and 18^th placed Jong AZ (2-1) in recent weeks, so it would take a huge leap of faith to back the Leeuwarden outfit at odds of under 2/1 here, even though they are unbeaten in their last seven encounters with RKC.

The head to head and recent results is obviously a concern in terms of supporting the hosts in this one, but we think the bookies have let them go a little here at odds of around 13/10 as it was only three match days ago that Waalwijk racked up their sixth Eerste Divisie victory on the spin.

Their effort in Rotterdam last week was highly encouraging and they should be too strong for Cambuur if they’re able to put their best foot forward. With the number of games remaining in the regular season ticking down fast, RKC know that they have to return to winning ways and there won’t be any excuses if they can’t account for the side currently placed 15^th in their own back yard. The carrot of the Play-offs should drive them onto success and we’re predicting a 3-1 triumph in their favour.