Dutch EreDivision
2008-09-14 - FC Groningen vs FC Utrecht
A Sports Betting Pick by Erik
Netherlands Eredivisie
Sunday 14th September 2008 - KO 12:30 local (13:30 GMT)
Have been thinking about the following quite a bit, but although I had some doubts at first the home side seems worth backing on Sunday.
FC Groningen
FC Groningen started the season with a 4-0 win on the road to Vitesse with the visitors breaking their negative record in Arnhem.
The visitors had the best of the first half with Vitesse making a desolate impression and FC Groningen opened the score after ten minutes with De Roover drilling the ball from 30 yards in the back of the net.
In the second half Vitesse opened strong but after twenty minutes the hosts had to continue with ten men with Berg being taken down in the penalty area and Vitesse defender Van der Struijk being sent off.
With Van de Laak scoring and then Berg repeating from the penalty spot five minutes later as well, it was Levchenko determining the final score of 4-0 with a goal twelve minutes from time.
FC Utrecht
FC Utrecht suffered a 1-5 defeat at home to PSV on Saturday afternoon with the hosts starting the season with a long list of absentees.
FC Utrecht coach Van Hanegem had to select two players from the youth on match day but despite the many injuries the hosts managed to keep a clean sheet until five minutes from time.
However, the match was decided within five minutes with PSV scoring three times with a little help from the FC Utrecht defense that did not prove to be very trustworthy.
In the second half FC Utrecht failed to create much danger in front of the goal of PSV and with the visitors scoring two more goals in the second half it was Uitterloo making his first goal in his debut game for FC Utrecht to determine the final score on 1-5.
Previous meetings
20/04/2008 FC Utrecht - FC Groningen 1-0
14/09/2007 FC Groningen - FC Utrecht 0-2
29/04/2007 FC Groningen - FC Utrecht 0-2
03/12/2006 FC Utrecht - FC Groningen 3-0
12/04/2006 FC Groningen - FC Utrecht 2-1
11/12/2005 FC Utrecht - FC Groningen 0-2
FC Groningen and FC Utrecht have met each other sixteen times in the competition in Groningen since the season 1990/1991 with FC Groningen winning 5 times, FC Utrecht winning 4 times and both teams drawing 7 times.
Injuries/suspensions
FC Groningen : Berry Powel (att) (foot inury), Martijn Meerdink (mid) (foot injury)
FC Utrecht : Gregoor van Dijk (mid) (suspension), Cedric van der Gun (att) (foot injury), Tim Cornelisse (def) (leg injury), Morten Skoubo (att) (doubtful, foot injury)
The Verdict
There are many angles to look at this game and let's start with the first one.
In the first round of the competition FC Utrecht suffered a huge defeat at home while FC Groningen booked a convincing win on the road to Vitesse.
Taking into account that FC Utrecht also lost a friendly match against Germinal Beerschot 3-0 last week, it seems that FC Utrecht has lost track completely with the confidence in the team not being at a great level.
Secondly, the injury problems of FC Utrecht are starting to get more serious with also striker Skoubo most likely missing Sunday's game against FC Groningen after picking up a foot inury.
With captain Van Dijk being suspended and Van der Gun and defender Cornelisse sitting the game out on Sunday, FC Utrecht will miss three important players.
New signings Boussabon (att) and Neu (def) will be allowed to play on Sunday but the game against Germinal Beerschot showed an FC Utrecht that will not be affected much by the introduction of two new players.
Combine the above with the fact that FC Groningen holds a great home record in the Eredivisie and everything points to the home win on Sunday.
However, one issue that might put me off a big bet is the record of FC Utrecht against FC Groningen over the past few seasons with FC Utrecht winning their last four games in the competition including a 0-2 win on the road to Groningen last season.
With the home win being on offer around €1.65 - €1.70 with most bookmakers this price seems fair and FC Groningen can be matched around €1.75 at the highest odds.
Altogether this is enough reason to put a small to medium sized bet on the home side.
BEST BETTING TIP :
Take FC Groningen to win at €1.75
