Our prediction for this Netherlands Eredivisie match:
Sparta Rotterdam will be looking to build on a hard-fought 1-0 win over Venlo when they take on RKC Waalwijk in the Eredivisie round 26. The Rotterdammers proved their worth in the postponed fixture, with the team climbing to 12th position in the standings. Sparta regained a much-needed confidence on Tuesday evening, and they are surely capable of beating RKC at home ground. Auassar, who suffer an injury in the win over Venlo, has joined Coremans and Goncalves Pinto in the recovery room.
The visitors, on the other hand, failed to impress in a 2-1 loss to Utrecht, and given their anything but good away record in the Eredivisie, home win should be considered. El Haddaouti and Wouters are likely to miss the game with injuries for the visiting team. In the first half of the season Sparta defeated RKC 2-0.
Highlighted Player (Bryan Smeets):
Bryan Smeets is a product of MVV Maastricht football academy who plays for Sparta Rotterdam in the Dutch Eredivisie. Smeets scored 23 goals in 144 league appearances for MVV before joining De Graafschap in 2015.
After his spell with the Superboeren, the midfielder moved to Cambuur in the 2017/18 season. The following season he joined Israeli club Maccabi Tel Aviv where he scored 12 goals in 37 appearances in the elite division. Bryan Smeets then decided to return to Netherlands as he joined Sparta Rotterdam in the 2019/20 season. He scored his first goal with De Kasteelheren in a 4-0 win over RKS Waalwijk on September 21, 2019.
His main position is attacking midfielder, but he is used as both central midfielder and right winger as well. Bryan Smeets has a contract with Sparta Rotterdam which should expire on June 30, 2021. He is a two-footed player.
Highlighted Team (Waalwijk):
RKC Waalwijk is a Dutch club that competes in the Eredivisie. RKC returned to the Dutch top flight in the 2019/20 season, and they were more than fortunate not to suffer relegation back to Eerste Divisie. Fred Grim’s men were stuck at the bottom of the table when the season was cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic.
As a result, they did not drop to the Dutch second tier. RKC play home games at Mandemakers Stadion, the venue which can hold only 7,500 spectators. RKC Waalwijk are well known for their yellow shirts with blue strips, but their away kit is mainly black. The Mandemakers Stadion outfit have never won the national championship.
RKC, though, represented the Netherlands in European competitions in the past, with team taking part in Intertoto Cup on four occasions. Willem II are seen as one of the club’s main rivals, with the two teams facing each other in the Brabantse derby.