Preview
Mr SimpleRight then, let's have a proper look at this little Dutch delight between Roda and Den Bosch. Two sides sitting pretty near the top of the Eerste Divisie table, separated by just a single point - Roda in 4th on 18 points, Den Bosch in 5th on 17. Proper tight at the top, ain't it?
Now, here's where it gets interesting. Roda's been a bit of a Jekyll and Hyde at home lately. Only won 20% of their last 5 home games, which ain't great for a team pushing for promotion. They had that shocking 1-4 hammering at home to Waalwijk, but then bounced back with a decent 1-1 draw against league leaders Cambuur. They're scoring 1.5 goals per game at home but also letting in 1.6 - makes for entertaining stuff!
Den Bosch, on the other hand, have been better on their travels than you might expect. 50% win rate away from home, including that tasty 2-1 win at Vitesse in their last away game. They're averaging 2 goals per game overall, but they do like to concede too - 1.9 per game suggests their defence ain't exactly watertight.
When you dig into the recent results, both teams seem to love a goal-fest. Roda's had that 3-3 draw with Jong Ajax, while Den Bosch were involved in a 4-2 thriller at MVV. Both sides have seen both teams score in 70% of their recent matches - that's a proper pattern, that is.
Head-to-head, Roda has the edge at home with a 3-1-1 record, but recent meetings have been tight affairs with plenty of draws. The last two encounters both ended 0-0 and 1-1, suggesting these two know each other well.
Looking at the stats, both teams average over a goal per game, both concede regularly, and both have shown they can score against decent opposition. With Roda's defensive wobbles at home and Den Bosch's attacking prowess on the road, I'm expecting both to get on the scoresheet here.