Dutch EreDivision
2008-10-29 - Sparta Rotterdam vs Feyenoord
A Sports Betting Pick by Erik
Netherlands, Eredivisie
Wednesday 29th October 2008 - KickOff 19:00
SPARTA ROTTERDAM
Sparta is currently on the sixteenth place in the table with 5 points from 7 games and the team hasn’t showed to be in the best of form yet.
Especially defensively Sparta makes a very poor impression shipping 18 goals in the last 7 games including three goals against FC Groningen last weekend.
Sparta will host Feyenoord on Wednesday in a derby game and the hosts will still be without defender Jaggy and striker Touzani, while also midfielder Van Gessel has been added to the injury list breaking his collar bone in the game against FC Groningen last Sunday.
The 3-0 defeat on the road to FC Groningen did not much good to the confidence of the team with Sparta suffering their fourth defeat of the season.
FEYENOORD
Feyenoord drew their last game 2-2 at home against SC Heerenveen with Mols netting the equalizer behind the SC Heerenveen goalkeeper in the first minute of stoppage time where nobody gave Feyenoord a chance after the 0-2 just after halftime.
The hosts played a very poor first half with SC Heerenveen taking the lead ten minutes from halftime. In the second half an early goal from the visitors seemed to push Feyenoord towards a four-game losing streak but goals from Makaay and Mols saved the day for team manager Verbeek with Feyenoord climbing to the fifteenth place in the table.
In the derby game against Sparta on Wednesday the team will still have many absentees with Tomasson, De Guzman, Landzaat and Lucius not expected to be fit in time with Feyenoord needing to start collecting points very soon in order to keep sight on a place in the top five of the ranking.
Previous meetings
23/03/2008 Sparta - Feyenoord 3-2
26/12/2007 Feyenoord - Sparta 2-0
23/12/2006 Feyenoord - Sparta 3-2
10/09/2006 Sparta - Feyenoord 1-4
19/02/2006 Feyenoord - Sparta 4-0
21/08/2005 Sparta - Feyenoord 1-3
During their last thirteen meetings on the road to Sparta, Feyenoord managed to win eleven times while Sparta only managed to record two wins.
Injuries/suspensions
Sparta : Karim Touzani (att) (ankle), Kim Jaggy (def) (ankle), Sander van Gessel (mid) (collar bone)
Feyenoord : Andwele Slory (att) (hamstring), Denny Landzaat (mid) (hamstring), Jon Dahl Tomasson (att) (ankle), Jonathan De Guzman (mid) (leg), Karim El Ahmadi (att) (ankle), Ron Vlaar (def) (knee), Theo Lucius (def) (foot), Tim Vincken (def) (leg)
The Verdict
The number fifteen of the Eredivisie in a derby game against the number sixteen of the ranking might suggest a close call and the bookmakers agreed pricing the visitors above evens to grab the full three points on Wednesday.
Feyenoord has known a very tough season so far, losing three games out of their last four and drawing 2-2 at home to SC Heerenveen last weekend by a 91st minute goal after once again playing a very poor match.
However, the team will visit Sparta on Wednesday in a derby game and Feyenoord proved in the past seasons to be able to book some very good results against their neighbors winning eleven times in their last thirteen meetings and losing only twice.
Feyenoord still has a long list of injuries, but it seems that Makaay has found his scoring ways again after pulling one goal back against SC Heerenveen from a free kick and appearing dangerous in front of the goal multiple times.
Sparta has been a defensive nightmare shipping 18 goals in their last seven games and missing their important midfielder Van Gessel for the next six weeks due to a broken collar bone. With the confidence in the team not being sky-high, the game against Feyenoord may be a boost for the team but when we take a look at the pure quality we have to give Feyenoord the advantage here.
The team has proven to be able to cope with pressure as shown in the away game against Kalmar FF in the UEFA Cup (1-2) a few weeks ago and I expect Feyenoord to bounce back against Sparta this Wednesday.
The Pick :
Feyenoord to win
