Sittard vs Sparta Rotterdam prediction: NETHERLANDS: Eredivisie betting tips on match 2024-01-12 15:30.
Fortuna Sittard enters Round 17 as the ‘leader’ of the bottom half of the standings, but with a total of just 17 goals to their name, they are one of the least frequent scorers of the competition. The hope and intention is that Kristoffer Peterson will help the team turn things around in the second half of the season. The Swedish attacker was presented to the Limburgers, who have so far mainly relied on the output of Kaj Sierhuis (five goals) and Tijjani Noslin (three). But the latter will be out for this week through suspension.
Sierhuis and Noslin were the two goalscorers in their last match of 2023: a 2-0 victory over FC Eindhoven in the KNVB Cup. Whether it will be just as easy to keep their goal clean in 2024 remains to be seen, because goalkeeper Ivor Pandur was in far-reaching negotiations with Hull City at time of publication and may no longer be under the bar this weekend when the Eredivisie resumes. Michael Verrips, on the other hand, seems to be returning from his loan to FC Groningen.
Their opponents Sparta Rotterdam were the only club in the competition at the start of the round to have scored exactly as many goals as they have conceded (22). They hold a three-point lead over Fortuna, but aren’t guaranteed of maintaining it after failing to win their three official games prior to the winter break. The calendar year ended with a 2-0 KNVB Cup loss at ADO Den Haag, meaning Sparta only has the Eredivisie to think about in the second half of the season.
In recent years there have been few goals when Sparta visits Fortuna. On six of the last seven occasions that the Rotterdam team travelled to Sittard, only one of the two teams scored; and in three of the last six editions, no goals were scored at all. Goalkeeper Nick Olij can ensure that few goals are scored in this encounter, because he is the custodian who managed to prevent the most goals in the Eredivisie (4.7).
Players to watch: Sparta midfielder Arno Verschueren scored twice against Fortuna last season and also struck twice in his last five league matches before the winter break. In his previous meeting with Sparta, Kaj Sierhuis both scored and assisted.
Hot stat: Fortuna lost just one of their last ten home matches (W6, D3), whilst conceding no more than one goal in all nine without defeat.