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Neighbors and old acquaintances are now to meet in the final of this playoff to decide which team gets a promotion to top division, just like last season.
De Graafschap won each game 1-0 last season to get promoted. They now want to stay there after doing well in the second part of the season (had only 5 points from the first part of the season). The is the final first leg game, the stakes are high and the game styles of these teams suggest that this will be a tough battle with scarce goal attempts. The home team should look to win by at least one goal but their top scorer De Kogel is out with a suspension, which is a big problems for their offensive plans. They don't have another player close to his quality and that is why they're expected to focus on not conceding any goals. That would give them a chance to get through in the second leg if they score in it and if this finished as a goalless draw.
Trying to finish a game as a goalless draw is tough but Go Ahead had third best defense in the second league. They do not leave any room for the rivals and know how to defend in any situation. De Graafschap aren't very powerful offensively. We don't know what condition their top two players are in. They might not even play or start on the bench, while the home team have no need to rush into anything. They would love to score here but the important thing is not to lose. A more defense-oriented tactics is to be expected here.
Besides, we saw all of that a year ago when things were pretty similar ahead of the first leg. A lot of players from those games will play today. Attractive football is not really expected. But a tactical war, which should finish with less than 3 goals in total, is. Details

Groningen and Heracles are playing the first playoff semis leg for the Europa League, and it won't be pretty. It'll be a tactical war with defense on the front, and the offense will patiently wait for space to open.
That's usually what the first games of the knockout phase of the competition are, especially when the stakes are high for both teams, and there are no individuals to make a difference on either side.
Both these teams are hard workers, disciplined, they rely on homogeneous game and collective hard work to find the solution. Nobody in Groningen scored over nine goals in the championship, and out of the first 13 teams, Groningen are the second least efficient. Almost the same is true for Heracles, whose best scorer Weghorst scored 12, and their second Bel Hassani eight, but he can't play today. Heracles are the fourth worst when it comes to efficiency.
So, these two teams are quite similar, they don't tend to rush, and that could be very prominent in a game as important as this one.
Even if there is a goal scored early, especially if the home team do it, that shouldn't speed things up because there's always the second leg to fix things. Heracles leadership could try to make a different scenario, but Groningen will try to avoid conceding a goal early on, and that will be their priority.
Considering the odds offered for the total goals of under three, which goes to 2.25, there could be a big value bet in that option. Since it's always wise to be careful, you can play for void if there are three goals total because those odds look good, too, and far more importantly, they're very realistic today in Groningen. Details

It is unusual in football to bet that one team will win by 4 goals, but the Dutch media are forcing it. in the preview of the second to last round of their championship and the PSV - Cambuur game, the word they mention the most is monster-score.
Everyone are eagerly awaiting to see if PSV can defeat written off Cambuur with a huge score, and that way extend their hope that they will win the title through better goal difference than Ajax.
That is the only way PSV can win the title, because it is hard to believe that Ajax won't defeat Twente at home and De Graafschap in the last round. The team from Eindhoven says that they are going for a record win today, and since they already won 6-0 at Cambur this season, they have a reason for optimism. The away team from Leeuwarden are demoralized, there are numerous injured players, and they are too bad for this division, in 32 games they conceded 71 goals and they should fall apart as soon as they concede the second goal, because only a win here could save them. When they realize they cannot win, their resistance will probably fade away, and PSV should, as defending champions, the most efficient and realistically the best team in the division, know how to use that.
The bookkeepers are offering scandalous low odds on four goals in this game (around 1.55), so these 2.30 at home team's win by at least 4 goals impose themselves as the choice we should take for medium stake. Two balls in the goal of this new second division team per half. Sounds realistic.... Details

Even though PSV are the best Dutch team right now, based on their performance, their success in Europe and quality, it is possible they won't win any trophies. They are only playing the championship, they have three rounds to go and they are even with Ajax, but Ajax have better goal difference. That is not easy to catch up with, but they will try. There is also an option that Ajay will lose a game. Vitesse have faltered this season, especially in the second part, after coach Bosz left. His assistant Maas took over the team and he did not do very well, and he struggled with a lot of absences. Vitesse lost their usual combinatorics, and they could lose the play-off for the Europa League. They won't be complete in Eindhoven either. They will face waves of PSV's attacks, because PSV don't need only a win, they also want to win by the biggest possible difference. Based on everything seen lately, PSV are the favorites in this match, they basically have no absences, so it seems logical to bet on their win by at least 2 goals.
It's not that Vitesse cannot fight back and score a few goals, and options with more goals are also realistic, but they are better for live betting. So we will try with a classic handicap on home team's win by 2 or more goals. Here is another impressive information, PSV played 14 championship games in 2016, and won 12 of them, and all 12 times they won by minimally 2 goals. If this will be their 13th win this year, I hope it won't be just by 1 goal, and in a situation when PSV need to improve their goal difference more than ever. Details

The two clubs are three points apart, they're 16th and 17th on the table. Palace is seven points away from the danger zone, and Norwich four.
Palace are doing better now, some of the players are back (playmaker Cabaye and center forward Wickham), and Bolasie and Puncheon are fully ready. Their goal today is to beat the third worst defense of the league who in visiting matches on average concede two goals.
In visiting matches, after six defeats they managed to win in the last visiting match against WBA, but WBA are not a good team, so the win has no significance.
The visiting team are arriving to a stadium where they haven't won for 20 years, and they will be welcomed by motivated hosts who really want to win. Norwich would be satisfied with a single point, but they will hardly reach it. Crystal Palace should score three points today... Details

Zwolle are in a great race for Europe League qualifying rounds. They will have a rather tough fixture schedule in the last 5 rounds since they're meeting either top table teams and Excelsior, who are struggling to avoid relegation. The easiest game for Zwolle will be the one with Roda, who are very close to securing a spot in this league next season and should actually not have any problems even if they lose here.
The home team are extremely motivated and keen on winning. Coach Hans will go with the best lineup he has and a with an offense-oriented tactics, especially because Roda prefer defense and will almost certainly play good defense here.
The visitors, however, don't have players capable of carrying out fast transition. Two of their key offensive midfielders are out and without them, there is no one to feed the forwards with assists.
Since Juric and Ngohbo (who scored 8 goals combined) aren't fully fit and therefore not expected to play either, it seems like the visitors are to start without 4 players who are their top scorers. Four of them scored 18 out of Roda's 29 goals.
That is really a massive problem for them and if the y defense doesn't do brilliantly, Roda will do badly here. Zwolle beat them 5-0 in the first head-to-head of the season and has 5 wins in the last 6 home games in the league. They scored 17 goals in all those matches.
Zwolle will be very motivated and fighting for an important goal. Roda, on the other hand, struggle with injuries and hardly need the points. That should result in the home team winning. Details

Ajax now need to beat NEC Nijmegen in order to reach the top of table in the Dutch Championship. They would then have one point more than their only title rivals, PSV.
After a five-game winning run (goal-difference 15-3), Ajax will probably rush at NEC from the very first minute today.
There is little room for the thesis that NEC may defend themselves because their shape is going downwards (only three scored goals in the last six matches), quality-wise they're way below Ajax, and in the last couple of years only once they avoided getting defeated by them. In the last eight head-to-heads, Ajax won seven times, and out of that six were with two or more goals of difference. This is a key match for the title race, and Ajax won't let it go to waste.
They won't stop at a single goal, but will continue to ferociously seek other chances in order to be completely at peace.
All things lead to Ajax winning this with a minimum of two goals of difference, and it's easily possible that it will happen with three or more... Details

Willem II expected a less stressful season, not having to worry about staying in the league. But, everything went wrong from the beginning, including the forwards' injuries and bad form. They placed their hopes on Živković who was borrowed from Ayax, but he didn't show anything and was let go this winter. Ogbeche and Kali were brought instead, but both got injured and are out today still. Willem II have a hard time scoring, and they're facing Ajax today.
Ajax have been taking it out against Willem II for years, even though they're friendly otherwise, and lend them talented players constantly so they'd grow. Ajax simply have to win today to get to one point behind the leading PSV.
The guests have to attack and try to win from the start, and the home team had to modify their tactics into defensive ones because of the efficiency issues. Ajax's best scorer El Ghazi is out because of the cards, but Milik, Younes, Klaasen, Gudelj and the other offensive players are still too good for the 15th team of the league.
Ajax will use all their forces because they have to win this, and AZ saw what that looks like in the last round. AZ had all wins so far, but were beaten 1-4. Something along those lines could happen to Willem II today because De Boer's team look powerful again... Details

No additional explanations are needed for this bet, because when fifth-placed second league team are facing eight-placed third league side in the Dutch cup semi-final, the difference is huge. As round as the ball may be surprises possible, that won't happen here because Utrecht are too serious of a club to lose to amateurs who are playing the biggest game of their lives.
Utrechts coach Ten Hag worked in Bayern's youth program until he took over the club last Summer, and German discipline is crucial for his work in the Dutch team as well. So the home team in their strongest lineup will play hard from the start and win by at least 3 goals, and probably even more.
For those among you who are more brave, we also recommend bigger handicap options than the one we are taking as the official bet. Details

Even under different, for Aston Villa more favorable circumstances, Stoke would be the favorites for the win home. Given how things are today, they should be heavy favorites. Big injury struggles in defense suggest some problems for the home team but Stoke can and should win this on account of their offense.
The 0-6 defeat to Liverpool last round forced Villa's president Ellis to abandon all hope and say they're headed for relegation. Coach Garde is talking about lack of motivation by some individuals at practice sessions and the list of players he cannot count on, which is quite long. Aston Villa won't get many points until the end like that.
Stoke, on the other hand, want to make it in Europe and since the point-difference is very small, every win means a lot. The easy win in Bournemouth and a 14-day break did the team well. They're now after new wins.
Both teams from Manchester and Chelsea all lost here this season. Arsenal didn't win either and it's quite normal to expect the already written-off Villa to lose as well. Details

We rarely see in the Dutch league high odds on over of goals, and these 2.00 that in the game between Excelsior and Ado Den Haag three or more goals will be scored is really standing out. Bookmaker are probably relying on the home team's poor scoring form, but that doesn't have to mean anything today, except that it could pay off to bet on that.
There are several reasons. Excelsior have not won in 10 rounds, they dropped to 16th position and they have no other choice but to go after the win against Den Haag. We actually shouldn't doubt that this will happen, and the away team will answer the same way, because they are not a defensively oriented team, and they are prone to mistakes and concede cheaper goals. With that, they have great forwards, led by Havenaar who scored 11 goals, and it is a realistic expectation that they can score at least once against the fifth worst defense in the league.
Since both teams aren't struggling with absences, everything points to the fact that this will be an outplaying match, just like their previous head-to-heads, which finished 3-3, 2-3 and 2-2.
In their last 15 games, the option 'both teams score' always passed, and 12 times there were three or more goals overall. The situation is such that there is no reason to make any calculations, especially at Excelsior, who desperately need the win and that is why we predict a lot of goals at Rotterdam. Details

The bookies always make Chelsea heavy favorites, especially against teams that are lower in the table even though it's clear that the defending champions are just a shadow of their former selves. The fact is, there is nothing Chelsea can do in Premiership from now until the end of the season and their only chance of Cl and Fa Cup. That will be a tough task since they are set to face PSG and City in the next two games after this one.
Chelsea might claim that their focus is on Newcastle but it's very clear that this meeting is the least important one of the next there for Hiddink's side. That means a failure here won't be treated as tragedy. That, of course, doesn't mean Chelsea won't look for a win but the visitors will have a say as well.
Every game until the end of this season is crucial for them and each point means a lot. They will fight fiercely to try and get it here and this game could be much closer than the odds suggest. Let's forget about stats and tradition and bad record Newcastle have away. They can do much better now with new acquisitions. Not counting the last defeat to Everton 0-3, the last four Newcastle's defeats were by one goal. Their game and motivation are not questionable, they need to just get a bit better in offense and maybe have a bit of luck to turn things around. We can expect them to put up a good fight at Stamford Bridge today. If Chelsea don't do well, the visitors could get at least a point.
Chelsea recorded draws in the last 4 away games. Out of their 4 Premiership wins in London, three were by two goals, one by one goal. Given the situation and their focus on PSG and City, betting on Newcastle not losing by more than a goal seems the best choice. If they lose at all... Details

Bournemouth gained a lot of sympathy for their performance in their debut Premiership season, they are out of the relegation zone and they created quite a point difference between themselves and the relegation zone. Eddie Howe's team wants to outplay with everyone, they make no calculations. They defeated great teams like Chelsea and Manchester United, but those two teams are far from their potential form this season based on player quality. Today is the first time Arsenal are playing at Bournemouth, they are in a crisis and have dropped to the fourth position. But they played against tough teams in the last four rounds whose game style doesn't suit Arsenal (Liverpool, Stoke, Chelsea, Southampton) and Arsenal won only 3 points.
That is not nearly enough for a team with title ambitions and they have to start winning, especially because they are facing leaders Leicester in the next round. Home team's game style suits Arsenal, they will get more space, and win balls against a team that wants to play and spread over the pitch. Quality and experience are on Arsenal's side so it is logical to expect they will dictate the pace and go for the win from the start, because any other results will be a debacle for them in this season when they have more chance to win the title than in the last 10 years. Arsenal cannot afford a slip up in Bournemouth and now that Alexis Sanchez is finally fit, we can expect them to justify the role of the favorites, while Bournemouth will have much easier tasks in the continuation of the relegation battle. Details

There are a lot of reasons why AZ faltered in the first part of the season. Starting with selling of several key players from last season, getting younger players and exhausting games in the Europa League. All of that is behind them, and they are convinced that the second part of the season will be better and that they will enter the play-off for the Europa League.
The start was good, they defeated Roda, even though they had one less player since 56th minutes. They acquired center back Vlaar and midfielder Wuytens, who are great reinforcements for Van der Brom's team. AZ can now ruin anyone's plans, including Feyenoord's, who can hardly be such favorites as visitors today as the bookmakers might suggest. It is important to say that Feyenoord are having a lot of problems. Van Bronckhorst's team didn't show anything in the previous round at home against PSV, they haven't created a single chance. With such performances they cannot do anything against weaker teams, let along stronger ones. With all that, Van Bronckhorst is in a conflict with former national team member Immers and forward Kazim Richards and they are both on their way out of the club, and they were seen as crucial players with captain Kuyt ahead of the season. This Feyenoord gives no confidence, and they are missing their key defender today, center back Botteghin.
So we see this game as even, and it is possible that AZ will dictate the pace, and it seems logical to bet on the option that the home team will not be defeated. It is true that AZ haven't had much luck against Feyenoord in the past, but we remember a game in Rotterdam in which they were in the lead 2-0 and conceded the goal for 2-2 in the 96th minute. The traditions are there to be broken... Details

Let's look back to the last season and the game between Crystal Palace and Chelsea at Selhurst Park in October 2014. Chelsea were the leaders and they were coming here without their best scorer, Diego Costa, and the odds on their win were 1.50. They easily won 2-1, and with one red card on each side in the first half.
A year and three months later, both teams have changed coaches and still have 90% of the same players, and the odds on Chelsea were 2.10, but the away team are pretty much complete while the home team are missing five most efficient players in the offense and midfield. No matter how much you take into account other factors, which have clearly changed in Crystal Palace's favor, these odds have no realistic basis, that is Chelsea are a much bigger favorites in this game, no matter what kind of crisis they're in.
Congrats to Alan Pardew and all good that he has done at Selhurst Park in the 12 months he has been here, but the only thing his team can do here is defend and hope that the away team will slip up again. They have no players to attack and create chances with, and even if they had, they lost at home already four times this season, and they even lost to second-to-last Sunderland.
Without Bolasie, Gayle and Cabaye they have no key players for lethal and fast counterattacks with which they have great efficiency in away games, and a good example for their offensive impotence is the last home game against Swansea when they haven't had a serious shot on the goal in all 90 minutes and it ended 0-0 because the away team were cowards and afraid to go for all three points.
So, we don't expect anything serious from Palace in the offense, but Chelsea are expected to finally start playing. Guus Hiddink says that clearly: "We had enough of draws, we need a winning run!" and there is no doubt that he will ask that approach from his players. They have nothing to wait anymore, nor to make any calculations, they just have to prove that they haven't forgotten how to play football. Striker Costa is returning after the suspension and he is the most rested player, and some others missed Old Trafford and the 0-0 draw. The motivation and desire of Chelsea's players have to be at a high level, the quality is already on their side, and the reigning champions should win this.
Another good betting option is that both teams won't score, and by that we primarily refer to Crystal Palace, who haven't scored in their four of the last eight home games. Details

This year's last game in the Dutch league is the one between the first-placed and the last-placed teams, that is Ajax and De Graafschap, and it should, by all accounts, be a game of cat and mouse. These two teams cannot be put into the same sentence, and the set odds say enough about it, as do their previous head-to-head games.
The great team from Amsterdam have defeated the small team from Doetinchem in their last 12 head-to-head games, and they won by only one goal only once, three times by 2 and rest by 3 or more. In the last round, the away team faced Twente (who have pretty much fallen apart), they had a 1-0 lead and one player more, and in the end they lost 1-2, and with that they lost any realistic chance that they could avoid relegation. Simply put, they are a second league team that ended up in the first league by pure luck and the teams like Ajax will demolish them.
This is the last game of the year, Christmas atmosphere in the Arena, Ajax angry because they lost in Utrecht last Sunday, and the opponents are perfect to pay the price for that. Ajax will win this three goals, and maybe even four or five.
Heerenveen (5-2), Cambuur (5-1), Roda (6-0). These are Ajax's last three league wins at home and that is why we are convinced that the most successful Dutch team will not deny us of our Christmas bonus today... Details

Rapid are favored a lot in the duel against Dinamo Minsk, and it's hard to find the real reasons in a situation when this match is unimportant and an unwanted burden for the tired and injury-infested hosts.
Rapid can't even decide on the first place in the group because only in case Villarreal beat Viktorij, then a triumph against Dinamo won't do anything for Rapid. So, the only factor for today's Rapid's bigger motive is made of glass, and the reason to get this match over with the least amount of energy is more than obvious.
That is, of course, the Sunday derby of the Austrian championship when Rapid are going to Salzburg, and if they win, they will be able to take the first place on the table. There's no reason for them to waste themselves in this today's match.
Eight of their players are injured, three are questionable, and a couple of young aces with no experience or much playing time are competing to be among the starting eleven. We don't trust in that mixed line-up, so the away team stand a bigger chance here than the odds would suggest.
They're rested, they didn't play since November 30th, and they have been boosted by the triumph in the last match against Viktorija. Their goal is to come out with a positive result, show themselves to talent scouts because the transfer window is up in around 20 days, and there is no better stage than Europe for the clubs from its east.
Dinamo are motivated, not significantly weakened, and far more fresh than the hosts. They're not outsiders in this case and it's worth to play on them winning, with more than a goal of difference. Braver ones can even try X2 for the great 3.40. Details

Willem II are finally shooting well and have found their scoring form, and Cambuur have the worst defense in the league. With that, the both teams are offensively oriented and not prone to calculations and careful playing, and a point doesn't mean much for their ambitions.
Willem II are convinced they will finally earn two straight wins, and Cambuur are still looking for their first one in this championship. It doesn't seem this will be a tactical war, quite the contrary. The away team are missing so many players in the defense that they simply cannot rely on getting out of here without conceding at least one goal, so the best recipe is to try and score at least one, if not more, and Willem's strong suit also isn't defense.
The team from Tilburg conceded at least a goal in 13 of 14 games this season, and at home they conceded each time, which is often a consequence of risk, which they always take. In Willem II last six games, there were always at least 3 goals overall, while Cambuur conceded 12 times in the last 4 games, which is a consequence of absence of their almost whole defensive line.
We see this game as an open battle in which forwards will have the key roles (home team's attacker trio Falkenburg-Andersen-Zivkovic scored 13 goals, the away team is led by Ogbeche with 5) and that's why the logical thing is to go for three or more goals overall. Details

It was only a question of when Admira will spiral down to reality, to the relegation battle. Admira are eight points ahead of the last place still thanks to a great start, but the championship is only half-way through, and the future doesn't look bright. They haven't won in six rounds, and were crushed by Wolfsberger 0-4 in the away game this Saturday. It could've been double of that. A team of workers, but a slim bench, slid into a crisis at the end of the first part of the championship, and they can hardly get better against Rapid today.
The Viennese solved the problems they had while they were playing Europa League, and are now focused on the Austrian opponents. They easily crushed Mattersburg and Altach in the last two rounds, 6-1 and 3-1 respectively.
The additional motive for the Viennese is that they haven't won in their last four visits to Admira, even though they dominated in all of them. Admira just had more luck getting the points. Rapid will dominate tonight, again, and their efficiency should get better.
Admira are weakened in this game without their best player and scorer Starkl, basically the only one who can do something individually. The key center back Schößwendter is also questionable. The quality is on Rapid's side anyway, as is the mental momentum and the form, and the physical readiness. Zoran Barišić's team shouldn't waste their chance to get three points and maybe get to the first place of the league table, their primary goal this season. Details