Prediction: Almere City vs VVV Venlo

Verdict: Home win

Best odds: 4/6

Bookmaker: Olympusbet

Almere City and VVV Venlo are set to do battle on Saturday afternoon at the Yanmar Stadion in Almere, in the second leg of their encounter within the play-offs which determine teams promoted to the Dutch Eredivisie. The first leg, played at Venlo’s De Koel on Tuesday, ended with either side scoring a goal, which obviously leaves the contest wide open.

Mitchell van Rooijen broke the deadlock for Venlo after less than nine minutes, only to see his team’s lead nullified by Anthony Limbombe in the 29th. Almere midfielder Danny Post was sent off with 20 minutes left on the clock.

Almere City

In the main part of the season, Almere finished in third place with a total of 70 points. However, this was still 15 points behind the league champions Heracles and PEC Zwolle, who claimed the top two positions that guarantee direct promotion to the Eredivisie. Similar to Venlo, Almere now faces the challenge of navigating through the play-offs to secure promotion.

Almere successfully completed the first step by overcoming FC Eindhoven. Although they suffered a defeat in the first leg held in Eindhoven, they bounced back with a convincing victory in the second leg at their home stadium.

Under the guidance of Alex Pastoor, Almere began their current run of six matches with a 0-2 defeat at home to NEC, followed by a 2-2 draw away to Den Bosch, and a 1-0 victory over MVV. The initial leg against FC Eindhoven ended in a 1-0 loss, but Almere managed to turn the tide in the home rematch, securing a 3-1 victory, and as has been said, they drew 1-1 away to VVV in the first leg of this tie.

Team News

Post has received a suspension after the first leg for the red card, which means he won’t be able to play in the upcoming game. On the other hand, Faiz Mattoir is unavailable due to a knee problem that has kept him out of action since the early stages of the regular season.

With Nordin Bakker in goal, Castell and Hamdi Akujobi should flank the centre back duo of Theo Barbet and Damian van Bruggen. Jorrit Smeets, Alvaro Pena and Jochem Ritmeester van de Kamp will be in the middle of the park, with Limbombe, Pascu and Lance Duijvestijn attacking the opposition goal.

VVV Venlo

Venlo, under the guidance of their newly appointed head coach Rick Kruys, concluded the season in the Eerste Divisie with a commendable seventh-place finish. They accumulated a total of 58 points, which was 10 points fewer than Willem II, who secured fourth place, and only one point shy of MVV and NAC, who claimed the fifth and sixth positions respectively. In order to reach the semifinals, Venlo first had to overcome Willem II in the quarterfinals. They achieved this by emerging victorious in the first leg at their home ground and drawing the second leg when playing away.

VVV’s recent six-match run includes a 1-1 draw away against Helmond Sport, a 2-1 home victory over De Graafschap, and another 1-1 draw away to Jong FC Utrecht. VVV also faced Willem II in the two-legged playoff encounter, securing a 3-2 win at home and playing to a 2-2 draw in the away leg, before drawing 1-1 in the first leg against Almere.

Having closely followed VVV’s performance over the past two seasons in the second tier of Dutch football, the Venlo supporters are eagerly anticipating the return of their team to the Eredivisie.

Team News

Wingers Martijn Berden and Thijme Verheijen will not be able to participate in the upcoming weekend’s match. Both players are currently dealing with their own injury problems and are unable to take part in the game. The team will have to cope without their contributions as they continue to recover from their respective injuries.

Ennio van der Gouw will take his place between the posts, with centre-backs Brian Koglin and Rick Ketting flanked by Simon Janssen and Tristan Dekker. Kees de Boer, Van Rooijen, Robert Klaasen and Daan Huisman should form a flat midfield of four, while Nick Venema plays closest to striker Sven Braken upfront.

Conclusion

With Venlo not looking particularly impressive away at home, Almere shouldn’t have too many problems in settling the tie in their favour.

Verdict: Home win

Best odds: 4/6

Bookmaker: Olympusbet