Dutch EreDivision
2005-08-20 - RBC Roosendaal vs Ajax
A Sports Betting Pick by Mark
On first sight this one looks to be the mismatch of the day as Ajax are looking to get their season started at minnows RBC. So, banker away win or can RBC upset here?Ajax saw their opneing game at home against Den Haag cancelled so this game is actually their season opener while RBC lost 1-0 away to Groningen in a game where they defended in numbers but conceded the inevitable goal in the end.
RBC:
If we are to believe RBC's webpage, the hosts have very serious line up problems before this game.
There's a number of players missing with new winger Marcelino, , defenders Molenaar, Rodriguez and Acouna, furthermore Smolders and Guijt are still our, while Lammers is injured too. One of the few defenders left with Loran is being rated dsoubtfull too.
Now this is huge info and when i checked RBC's forum even the most optimistic fans don't see much hope for their teams chances tomorrow.
Upfront RBC saw their best striker Ikedia leave to AZ in a trade with Elkhattabi, but i doubt he alone can make a difference upfront.
Now i wouldn't have fancied RBC anyway here, but this is just too much for their already thin wearing squad i reackon.
Ajax
Well Ajax have a few worries themselves as Mitea got badly injured and will be our for a long time. Nigel de Jong will still be out as well while Rosales isn't fully fit either.
But, with Ajax big quality squad we shouldn't be too worried. Take a look at these names and if you supprt RBC you may start to shiver now: Trabelsi, Heitinga, Escude, Grygera, Maduro, Sneijder, Boukhari, Babel and Rosenberg, they will all play here in what will be not only Ajax season opener but also a key match in the build up to Ajax midweek CL game.
There are no line ups out yet, but we can count on coach Blind not to experiment here, although he might make some substitutions later on in the game when things are done and dusted.
History angle: In their previous 8 meetings, Ajax have a telling record of 7 wins and 1 draw and i pretty much expect this trend to continue here.
The verdict:
Anything else than a sound Ajax would be upsetting here, and a medium/large sized bet looks appropiate for what should be our saturday fixed odds "banker".