Almere City
- Almere City’s recent form is mixed with two wins, two draws and a defeat in their last five Eerste Divisie 2025-2026 matches, but head coach Jeroen Rijsdijk’s side have a solid home record this season with seven wins, two draws and four defeats at Yanmar Stadion.
- City are coming into this game after back-to-back ties with a 0-0 draw at Cambuur and a 1-1 draw away to MVV Maastricht, so they will have to improve their finishing in order to win on Friday.
Helmond Sport
- Jurgen Seegers has overseen a remarkable change in Helmond Sport’s identity since he took charge in July 2025 and he has them set up in a compact, energetic and disciplined block that is happy to let the opposition have the ball if it means they can keep the opposition out.
- Helmond will look to press hard, get men behind the ball, win second balls and be physical in duels.
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The last three results have been:
- a 0-0 home draw with De Graafschap.
- a 3-0 away defeat to FC Dordrecht.
- a 2-0 home win over FC Den Bosch.
Head-to-Head
- The recent head-to-head record is in favour of Helmond Sport who won 2-1 at home to Almere City in the reverse fixture four months ago.
- Almere City also failed to win at Yanmar in their previous home fixture, so there is an edge to this game.
Key Players
- The hosts average 1.31 goals against per home league match but have a reliable finisher in Julian Rijkhoff, who has 12 goals in 24 appearances this season.
- In Ferdy Druijf, they have another player who has found form recently, netting three of City’s last seven goals in the last five matches.
- They have only one of the top 10 scorers in Eerste Divisie 2025-2026, Maik Lukowicz, who has ten goals in 23 games, but they have shown they can grind out results when they need to.
Betting Insights
- However, Almere City are a better team and the odds reflect that with the home side 1.45 favourites to take the win and Helmond Sport 5.8 outsiders.
- The Over 2.5 goals line is very short at 1.4.
Prediction
- City’s home record should be enough to see them take all three points on Friday night.
- It suggests we will get an open contest, which we probably will, because Rijsdijk’s team always play at tempo and press hard.
