Dutch EreDivision
2009-01-25 - Heracles Almelo vs FC Twente
A Sports Betting Pick by Erik
Football: Netherlands, Eredivisie 2008/2009
Sunday 25th January 2009 - Kickoff 14.30
Heracles Almelo (11th - Home Rec : 5-3-1 13:7)
Heracles Almelo can be found on the eleventh place in the ranking with the team collecting 21 points out of their first 18 games in the competition.
Almost all points were recorded at home losing only from Ajax so far this season, but on the road Heracles Almelo is a different cup of tea.
The team has yet to win their first away game and last week Heracles seemed to succeed in doing this against ADO Den Haag, but a clear goal was disallowed by the assistant referee in the injury time of the second half. Heracles Almelo recorded a 2-2 draw in Den Haag with Van den Bergh (att) and Boakye (def) finding the net for the hosts.
FC Twente (3rd - Away Rec : 5-2-2 12:10)
FC Twente is on an excellent run this season occupying the third place in the ranking and being seven points down on the leaders AZ. Team manager McLaren has turned FC Twente into a solid team playing with great confidence.
Last week FC Twente grabbed a 2-1 win at home to Vitesse thanks to goals from Perez (att) and N'Kufo (att) remaining unbeaten for the eighth time in a row. The last defeat of FC Twente dates back to 9 November 2008 with the team losing 3-0 on the road to AZ.
Previous meetings
18/10/2008 FC Twente - Heracles Almelo 2 - 0
08/02/2008 FC Twente - Heracles Almelo 2 - 1
04/11/2007 Heracles Almelo - FC Twente 0 - 3
08/04/2007 FC Twente - Heracles Almelo 1 - 1
20/08/2006 Heracles Almelo - FC Twente 3 - 0
05/03/2006 FC Twente - Heracles Almelo 2 - 0
02/10/2005 Heracles Almelo - FC Twente 0 - 4
Injuries/suspensions
Heracles Almelo :
Sebastiaan Steur (att) (groin), Karim Bridji (mid) (knee)
FC Twente :
Eljero Elia (att) (doubtful, groin)
The Verdict
Can FC Twente record their ninth unbeaten game in a row and will they be able to overcome Heracles Almelo to keep the pressure on Ajax?
Heracles Almelo - FC Twente is a derby game that will be played on the artificial grass of Heracles and the hosts will welcome back some important players from injury. Quansah (def) will most likely return in the starting eleven while Smit (def) and Fledderus (att) are expected to take place on the bench after training along with the rest of the selection last week.
FC Twente will be looking for three points on Sunday and looking at the previous results against Heracles Almelo, the visitors recorded five wins in their last seven meetings and losing only once.
Looking at the quality of the players we have to give FC Twente the advantage here once again with N'Kufo (att) finding his scoring ways again and Perez (att), Arnautovic (att) and Stam (def) being in excellent form.
A small blow to the team was the departure of Wielaert (def) to Ajax but the team signed Wisgerhof (def) from NEC who is likely to play on Sunday.
Taking into account the recent form of both teams, the quality of the players and the excellent record of FC Twente against Heracles Almelo over the last few years I will place a medium sized bet on the away win on Sunday.
BEST BETTING TIP :
Take FC Twente to win 1.91
