Dutch 1st Division Football Betting
Today I am going for a couple of bets in the Sparta v. Groningen match in
the Dutch 1st division.
Sparta are a bit of a yo-yo team in Holland and currently sit 16th out of
the 18 clubs in the league and face a Groningen side who are 4th 5 points
off leaders Feyenoord.
At first glance this looks like a win for the away side, but I have looked
at the stats and found one or two things that make me think that there is
a bit of value to be had today.
Sparta at home have a record of won 1 drawn 4 lost 2 scored 9 and conceded
12 but the 2 defeats have been against Vitesse (10th) and PSV (2nd) and
they conceded 6 of the 12 goals at home in those 2 matches. Their form
over the last 6 games has been won 2 drawn 1 lost 3 scored 7 and conceded
16 with 11 of those goals being let in during the 3 away games in that
period.
Groningen have been a bit of a surprise side this season but their away
form has been patchy with 3 wins 2 draws and 3 defeats whilst scoring 16
and conceding 20 which at first glance may not look to bad but when you
look at their last 4 away games in the league doubts arise.
The last 4 road games in the league have seen them beat Heracles 2-1, lose
4-2 at Herenveen, 5-1 at Roda, and 5-1 at NEC, to which you could add a
3-1 defeat in the Cup at Feyenoord so in their last 5 away games they have
scored 7 and conceded18!
In their defence though they are 2nd in the form table over the last 6
league games with 4 wins and 2 draws but not surprisingly given the
earlier facts 3 of the wins have come at home.
The last 10 meetings between the 2 sides include 1 Cup game and generally
go with the home side in low scoring games:
Sep 29, 07 Eredivisie FC Groningen 1 - 0 Sparta Rotterdam
Dec 26, 06 Eredivisie FC Groningen 0 - 1 Sparta Rotterdam
Sep 17, 06 Eredivisie Sparta Rotterdam 0 - 1 FC Groningen
Feb 7, 06 Eredivisie Sparta Rotterdam 1 - 0 FC Groningen
Sep 21, 05 KNVB Beker FC Groningen 2 - 1 Sparta Rotterdam
Sep 11, 05 Eredivisie FC Groningen 0 - 1 Sparta Rotterdam
May 5, 02 Eredivisie Sparta Rotterdam 0 - 0 FC Groningen
Dec 9, 01 Eredivisie FC Groningen 0 - 0 Sparta Rotterdam
May 6, 01 Eredivisie FC Groningen 1 - 1 Sparta Rotterdam
Oct 29, 00 Eredivisie Sparta Rotterdam 2 - 0 FC Groningen
Team news is that Sparta have no injury worries though Olaf Lindenbergh is
still suspended.
However Groningen have a string of injury problems Paul Mathijs (ankle),
Marnix Kolder (groin), Ondrej Svejdik (arm), Tim Matavz (ankle), Luciano
da Silva (finger), Evgeniy Levchenko (leg) and Erik Nevland (Achilles) are
all out injured while Bruno Silva is a doubt with flu.
Given the above facts my main bet win be -2.5 goals as firstly Sparta are
tight at home but do not score enough whilst Groningen may have an easier
time defending tonight then scoring, and secondly only 1 over their 10
previous meetings has gone over the 2.5 goal mark.
Most bookies are still 11/10 on this market and I am happy to take a piece
of that action.
My second bet for lower stakes will be to back Sparta at +0.25 on the
Asian Handicap Bet365 are currently offering 41/40 on this happening and
though Groningen should win tonight given their poor away form lately and
the fact that Sparta have drawn 4 of 7 home league games so far I am happy
to invest in this market .
So fingers crossed these two bets will get us heading into the New Year a
little richer.
Good luck,
Silverfox.
