TELSTAR VS GRAAFSCHAP PREVIEW & PREDICTION
De Graafschap hopes to force promotion to the Eredivisie through the nacompetition. The Superboers will first have to count with Telstar, one of the revelations of the season.
Telstar:
That Telstar has finished sixth this season can be seen as a miracle. The whitewashed seemed to be predestined for a place in the lower middle class, as it has always been in recent years, but in one way or another trainer Mike Snoei has managed to drop everything in the right place. The team from Velsen-Zuid lost only nine games and that is an achievement to be proud of. It is that Telstar lost the last two matches of the season, otherwise the team would have added the list of least defeats as well.
Telstar will now have to rediscover the shape of yesteryear to beat De Graafschap as the last two games resulted in narrow defeats. The dress rehearsal at the Superboeren was lost with 1-0 and a week later Telstar went home with 0-1 against Cambuur.
Before the match against De Graafschap, Snoei will have to make a change as Rodney Lopes Cabral is suspended. Captain Frank Korpershoek returns to the team this time. The experienced midfielder ended a suspension against Cambuur.
De Graafschap:
De Graafschap is currently one of the outsiders for promotion to the Eredivisie. The team of coach Henk de Jong did not perform too well during the first half of the season, but later hit back strongly. The formation from Doetinchem put together the victories and climbed up to fourth place. De Graafschap managed to save the best form for the last time and that might play a crucial factor during the playoffs.
With the shape it is indeed good. The last eight games yielded six wins and two draws, which will cause a lot of confidence during the run-up to the first game with Telstar. It is striking that De Graafschap scored no less than nineteen times in those last eight games.
De Jong has already indicated in his talk with the press that he does not want to play full against Telstar and wants to get more balance. This means that Tarik Tissoudali or Youssef El Jebli will have to start on the bank.
PREDICTION: Both teams to score / YES @ 1.46
