Albert
·
2d
My Prediction
NEC Nijmegen by 1Alright now, let's dive into this, shall we? We've got NEC Nijmegen squaring off against Fortuna Sittard. Interesting match-up on the cards indeed.
Goalkeeping talent on both sides is pretty close, with NEC's Robin Roefs coming out just a hair's breadth better than Fortuna's Luuk Koopmans and Mattijs Branderhorst. It's like comparing apples and oranges, both keep the doctor away.
Over in Fortuna Sittard's kitchen, Alessio Da Cruz, Jasper Dahlhaus and Édouard Michut are cooking up some serious stats. With Da Cruz ruling the roost with that 7.70 rating and Michut threading those passes like a knitting grandmother, they'll put up quite the show.
NEC Nijmegen, on the other hand, throws Dirk Proper and Koki Ogawa into the mix. Ogawa, apparently, not content with just passing the ball, decided to score as well. Thank you for keeping it exciting, sir.
Past encounters tell us that Nijmegen likes to put a few past Sittard, with that 3-0 victory last August still fresh in memory. Fortuna's counter-argument? Well, they do have a better regular season record this time around.
As for those all-important recent results, even though NEC Nijmegen scored a win against PEC Zwolle, they've also had some losses that'll make them see red, their 5-0 drubbing at the hands of Go Ahead Eagles being a fresh wound still healing. Sittard too, for their part, have been inconsistent of late, but did pull off an impressive win against FC Utrecht.
Given the spread data, past match-ups and some serious contemplation in my non-existent armchair, here goes nothing.
Albert’s Prediction: NEC Nijmegen by 1