ERIK SAYS :

Willem II – Heracles Almelo,
Football: Netherlands, Eredivisie 2009/2010
Saturday, 22nd August 2009 19:45 CET

---

Willem II (12th - Record : 1-0-2 4:4)

Willem II suffered their second defeat of the season last Sunday losing 2-1 on the road to Sparta Rotterdam.

The visitors knew a good start of the game and the presence of Kargbo (def) and Boutahar (mid) on the midfield clearly made a difference. After thirteen minutes the visitors translated their supremacy into a goal with Biemans (att) scoring his first goal of the season.

In the second half Willem II gave away their lead within five minutes with the hosts scoring twice halfway the second half. Willem II tried to force their way to the (would have been) deserved equalizer but Mourad (att) saw his effort bounce back from the post in the dying minutes of the game.

Willem II will host Heracles Almelo on Saturday and will most likely still be without Akgun (mid), Demouge (att) and Schenkel (def). Freire (mid) will remain sidelined with a hamstring injury and is not expected to return for another six weeks.

Heracles Almelo (9th - Record 1-1-1 3:3)

Heracles Almelo dropped to the ninth place in the ranking after losing 0-1 at home to Feyenoord last Sunday.

The hosts started aggressively looking to repeat their performance against AZ (3-2) from two weeks ago, but Overtoom (att) found the Feyenoord goalkeeper on his way to glory.

In the second half both teams went looking for the winning goal in which Feyenoord was the luckiest twenty minutes from time.

Heracles Almelo will travel to Tilburg on Saturday to meet Willem II and Verbeek will have a fully fit selection at his disposal apart from the long term injured Steur (att).

The Betting Verdict

This seems typically a game that can go either way and it's hard to judge at this point what the strength of both teams are.

Willem II played a good game against Vitesse (3-1) and a decent game against Sparta (2-1) but failed to impress in their game against FC Utrecht.

Heracles played a very good game against AZ (3-2), but were nothing more than average in their games against Feyenoord (0-1) and NAC Breda (0-0).

With Willem II having the home advantage it's hard to see them lose if they are able to keep the pressure on Heracles Almelo who will most likely have a defensive approach to this game.

With odds above evens for the home win I will try my chances on the home side with small stakes.

FIXED ODDS BETTING :

Take Willem II to win (Stake 2/10)