ALMERE CITY VS JONG PSV PREVIEW & PREDICTION
Young PSV could theoretically reach the top three, but then the Eindhoveners have to perform something special. Almere City, the opponent of Friday night, will have to make every effort to reach the playoffs.
Almere City:
Almere City recently appeared to be hanging out in the battle for the playoffs when the men of trainer Jack de Gier had a long time struggling to win matches, but the Flevolanders have been doing more than reasonable in recent weeks. RKC Waalwijk and Jong FC Utrecht, the current number nineteen and twenty of the ranking, were defeated and the top ten came in sight again. For Almere City it is important to win another team from the top twelve in order to restore self-confidence. The formation of De Gier is now eleventh, but a defeat can just be fatal.
Last Monday, Almere City appeared to be on its way to a hard-fought run in the away match against De Graafschap, but by the end of the game it went wrong for the visitors on the Vijverberg. Arsenio Valpoort and Nicky van Hilten had reversed the 2-0 score, but in the last five minutes, the Superboers struck twice more, giving a 4-2 final score on the board. Almere City will now have to come out better against Jong PSV to prevent a new loss.
Nicky van Hilten, the youngster who has recently had the chance to show his qualities and who made his first goal in the shirt of Almere on Monday, is expected to kick off again on Friday-evening.
Young PSV:
Young PSV could just reach the top three of the rankings if the current form is retained. The team from Eindhoven has been unbeaten for seven games in a row and regularly beat nice victories. That is how FC Oss and Go Ahead Eagles were recently fired. De Brabanders made eleven goals against these teams and that shows that the shape is good at the moment. The gap with Jong Ajax is still six points and therefore it seems that reaching the top three is a difficult story.
On Tuesday evening, Go Ahead Eagles was humiliated in the Philips Stadium. The team of coach Dennis Haar shot out of the starting blocks and that resulted in a decisive 4-0 lead after 45 minutes of football. After the break Jong PSV continued and eventually the counter stopped at 6-0. Nikolai Laursen and Albert Gudmundsson accounted for the bulk of the goal production. Both attackers managed to find the net twice. It is therefore beyond dispute that Jong PSV will step into Almere with a good feeling.
Young PSV will probably be less strong for the day than last Friday, but usually the Eindhoven team still manage to show the desired level. Jordan Teze and Matthias Verreth are still on the side with injuries.
PREDICTION: Over 3.5 goals @ 1.84
