Nijmegen vs Heracles prediction: NETHERLANDS: Eredivisie betting tips on match 2024-02-03 20:00.
On the final day of the transfer window, NEC Nijmegen saw influential club top scorer Magnus Mattsson head back to his home country of Denmark for a record amount of around €5mil plus bonuses. It’s a fantastic deal for NEC and for Mattsson himself, but the first team will miss his creativity and scoring ability, although they’ve also attracted a technically skilled player in his position with Tjaronn Chery.
They also strengthened themselves on the final day of the transfer period with former youth player Sylla Sow. They had been looking for an additional striker for quite some time since learning Bas Dost will be out indefinitely because of his heart condition. After their promotion, NEC declared a club ambition to occupy one of the European playoffs places every five years and this season it appears a realistic prospect. Rogier Meijer’s team has been playing some attractive football, holding their own against top clubs, and are consequently unbeaten in eight games (W6, D2).
Saturday evening’s opponent is Heracles Almelo, who this winter boosted their stocks with former NEC player Jordy Bruijn and are currently teetering on the edge of the relegation zone. That’s because they have the worst defence in the league, conceding in every Eredivisie match this season but one (W 5-0 v Almere City). At the start of the 20th round, Erwin van de Looi’s side were conceding almost 2.5 goals per game on their own!
Their transfer moves this week saw them loan left back Fredrik Oppegård from Jong FC and midfielder Ajdin Hrustić (who has Eredivisie experience with Groningen) from Hellas Verona. They hoped to collect an additional defender, but were unable to do so, which will make it difficult to find a suitable response to the large number of goals that could be conceded in coming months.
Players to watch: Koki Ogawa scored his first away goal for NEC in his previous match against Heracles. The Japanese striker now has five Eredivisie goals. Jizz Hornkamp has not yet completed 90 minutes since returning from his injury, but has nonetheless scored in his last two matches.
Hot streak: NEC recorded at least one goal in each of their last 17 games in all competitions.