Almere City and VVV-Venlo set out to book their place in the Eredivisie promotion playoffs final when they lock horns at the Yanmar Stadion on Saturday.

Off the back of a 1-1 stalemate in the first leg, this weekend's meeting is set to be an enthralling affair with the tie still firmly in the balance.

Match preview

VVV-Venlo spurned a golden opportunity to put one foot in the promotion playoff final in a 1-1 draw against Almere City in Tuesday's clash at the Covebo Stadion.

Rick Kruys's men raced to an early lead through Mitchell van Rooijen but were pegged back just shy of the half-hour mark courtesy of Anthony Limbombe's strike.

That brought an end to a run of two straight wins on home turf for the Yellow Black Army, who saw off the threat of Willem II in their playoff quarter-final clash.

Nonetheless, VVV remain unbeaten in each of their last 18 meetings against Almere, losing just one of the previous 20 editions of this fixtures across all competitions.

However, Saturday's hosts are currently without a win in five straight away outings and will need to get going on the road in their quest to secure a return to the top tier of Dutch football.

For Almere, a 1-1 draw away from home puts them in a good position as they just about managed to come away undefeated against VVV last time out.

Losing Danny Post for the final knockings of the game certainly did little to help De Zwarte Schapen's cause, having had to finish the game with 10 men.

Unsurprisingly, Alex Pastoor's men were left hanging on for large spells of the second period, managing just 33% ball possession and one effort on target.

Currently on a run of four wins and one stalemate from their last six home matches, Saturday's hosts will be confident of completing the job in front of their fans.

Team News

Having received his marching orders in the first leg, Danny Post will serve a one-game suspension, making him ineligible to play any part for Almere.

Faiz Mattoir is also unavailable due to a knee problem which has seen him fail to feature since the early stages of the just-concluded campaign.

Anthony Limbombe has scored in each of his last two outings, and the striker will be looking to deliver the goods for the home side once again.

Dutchmen Martijn Berden and Thijme Verheijen will not participate this weekend as the Venlo duo continue to battle with respective injury problems.

With four direct goal involvements in his three promotion playoff matches so far, 24-year-old Nick Venema is definitely one to keep an eye on here.

Almere City possible starting lineup:
Bakker; Castell, Barbet, Van Bruggen, Akujobi; Smeets, Pena, De Kamp; Limbombe, Pascu, Duijvestijn

VVV-Venlo possible starting lineup:
Van der Gouw; Janssen, Koglin, Ketting, Dekker; De Boer, Van Rooijen, Klaasen, Huisman; Venema, Braken

We say: Almere City 2-0 VVV-Venlo (Almere win 3-1 on aggregate)

Given Venlo's poor form away from home, Almere are huge favourites to come out on top in this one. We are backing the hosts to cruise to a relatively comfortable victory and book a place in the playoff final at the sound of the full-time whistle.


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