Leader and title candidate number 1 FC Twente may visit RKC Waalwijk. A win for FC Twente is nice, but not necessarily now that the gap is that big. This is a different story for the home team. The differences in the middle bracket are so large that this competition can make the difference between the subtop and the right row.
RKC Waalwijk:
The season didn’t start too well for RKC Waalwijk. Of the first ten league games, two were won and two were drawn. This poor performance meant that RKC was in fifteenth place for a long time in the rankings. Nevertheless, a phase started for the Waalwijkers at the end of November in which they once again knew what it felt like to win. Eleven games were played, of which only two were lost. The remaining nine games were won. As a result, Fred Grim’s team managed to climb a lot of places in the rankings, but it is now time for RKC to prove itself against the larger teams. With Sparta and Jong PSV, RKC has hit two high-flyers from the Kitchen Champion Division and the formation of Grim was scoreless. The last matches look tough for RKC. On Monday evening they meet the leader FC Twente, it has to visit Roda JC that Friday and NEC and Go Ahead Eagles are still waiting for RKC to visit a few weeks later. The program is fairly important for the season, because the second division of Dutch football is more exciting than ever.
There are six teams that are level with each other and the difference between the 6th and 14th position is only six points. From now on every point seems to become important for the final classification. RKC therefore has something to save against FC Twente, as the club has dropped three places in the ranking this weekend. The club was in sixth place last week, but after losing to Jong PSV last Friday it is in ninth place. It is eating or being eaten for RKC, because with a victory they could climb back to sixth place on paper. Then the Waalwijkers could solve their misstep, but if the club loses on Monday, it will work even deeper. RKC Waalwijk can then drop to position 14. This competition can therefore become the difference between subtop and the right-hand row.
Then RKC will have to look better than against Jong PSV. It lost 2-1 last Friday at Jong PSV. Dennis Haar’s team also won, because they played better. At least, they played football more simply. RKC got the chance to get more out of it through a penalty, but Dylan Seys missed the penalty and with that the chance of a late equalizer. Fred Grim’s team did not leave a good impression.
FC Twente:
FC Twente, on the other hand, has an excellent season and no one outside the Tukkers seems to claim the top position this season. That is why the champion party for Marino Pusic and his team is getting closer with the round. FC Twente dropped some stitches earlier this season, but we haven’t seen that since December either. Since then it has won almost every week, only the away match against Roda JC ended in a draw. The longer this season in the Kitchen Champion Division lasts, the more visible the quality difference becomes. This FC Twente is way too strong for this competition and actually has nothing to look for. However, not all races with monster scores are won.
The match against FC Den Bosch last Friday is a good example of this. It was difficult, but at the end of the day they had the desired result with the three points. FC Twente was in any case the better team, but this was not reflected in many opportunities. Jari Oosterwijk scored his eighth goal of the season and thereby also determined the final score. The lead in second place Sparta is now eleven points.
Yet there is not only wind in the back for the people of Twente. A few weeks ago, the FC Twente infirmary flowed empty again, but now Pusic will have to start puzzling. Wout Brama will not be there. Rafik Zekhnini dropped out on Friday with an injury and will not be ready for RKC-out.
PREDICTION: Twente to win @ 1,81
