Preview: Almere City vs. Emmen
Almere City and Emmen will be looking to take a giant step towards securing the final spot in the 2023-24 Eredivisie campaign when they face off in the first leg of their promotion playoff final on Tuesday.
Almere defeated VVV-Venlo via penalties in the semi-final stage, while Emmen were far too strong for NAC Breda as they claimed a comfortable aggregate victory.
Off the back of a drab opening 45 minutes, second-half goals from Richairo Zivkovic and Jasin-Amin Assehnoun got the job done for Dick Lukkien’s men.
That was a second consecutive victory for the Kannibals, who were on a four-game losing streak prior to the first leg of their last-four encounter against Breda.
Next up is the task of facing off against an opposing outfit with little separating the teams judging by recent encounters, as the last eight clashes have yielded two wins apiece and four draws.
Having picked up a first away win in over a month last time out, Tuesday’s visitors now go in search of consecutive victories on the road for the first time since July.
Almere held their nerve from 12 yards to see off the threat of VVV-Venlo in a tense encounter at the Yanmar Stadion on Saturday afternoon.
Following a 1-1 draw in the first leg, Soulaiman Allouch cancelled out Lance Duijvestijn’s opener to send the tie to penalties, where Nordin Bakker deliver the goods for Alex Pastoor’s men with three crucial saves.
De Zwarte Schapen are now unbeaten in five of their last six outings across all competitions but have managed to keep only one clean sheet in that time.
Aiming to gain promotion to the Dutch top flight for the first time ever, Tuesday’s hosts will need to make home advantage count and put themselves in the driving seat ahead of Sunday’s return leg.
Almere City Eredivisie Promotion Playoffs form:
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Almere City form (all competitions):
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Emmen Eredivisie Promotion Playoffs form:
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Emmen form (all competitions):
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We say: Almere City 1-1 Emmen
While both teams have been in decent form in front of goal of late, they have struggled on the defensive side, so we are expecting an enthralling affair. We can also see the teams cancelling each out to settle for a share of the spoils in the end.