The Dutch Eerste Divisie returns for Matchweek 13 from 30 October to 2 November 2026, featuring ten fixtures that test promotion contenders across both ends of the table. FC Volendam aim to protect their spotless home record, while league leaders Heracles look to extend their advantage at the summit. Our model has processed the opening night fixtures, and the remaining calls will appear on each match page the day before kickoff.
The match of the round: FC Volendam vs De Graafschap
FC Volendam welcome De Graafschap on Friday evening with the division's most commanding home record behind them. The hosts have claimed six victories from six league fixtures on their own patch, scoring twenty-two times and conceding only five. They entered the round in seventh place with nineteen points following a comprehensive 6-2 win against Jong Utrecht, and striker Henk Veerman leads the division scoring charts with thirteen goals across all competitions.
De Graafschap travel sitting sixteenth in the table, having gathered twelve points from twelve games. Their defence has struggled throughout the campaign, leaking twenty-six goals and managing just one clean sheet so far. After a 1-1 home draw against Waalwijk last week, facing a free-scoring host represents an exacting challenge.
Our model leans towards a FC Volendam win with medium confidence, while also projecting more than 2.5 goals and both teams to score with high confidence. For a more speculative call, our model points to a 2-1 FC Volendam victory as a low-confidence exact scoreline projection.
Friday
Helmond Sport meet FC Eindhoven in a contest between two teams stuck in difficult stretches. The hosts sit nineteenth with nine points after a wild 5-4 defeat at Jong AZ, marking three consecutive losses. Although Helmond Sport have scored ten times in their last five matches, they have yet to register a clean sheet this season. FC Eindhoven occupy seventeenth with eleven points and arrive on their own three-match losing sequence following a 2-1 loss to Jong PSV U21. Our model gives a low-confidence call for a Helmond Sport win, alongside a medium-confidence projection for both teams to score.
Roda host Jong AZ with an unbeaten home record intact. The fifth-placed hosts hold twenty-two points and recorded consecutive away victories, beating Almere City FC 3-2 and Jong Utrecht 2-1. Jong AZ sit eighth with seventeen points and carry the league's third-highest tally of goals scored with thirty-one, though they also hold the worst defensive record outside the bottom three after conceding twenty-six. Our model favours a Roda win with medium confidence and expects more than 2.5 goals with high confidence.
Waalwijk take on fourth-placed Almere City FC at home, where they remain undefeated this season having scored in every league fixture. Waalwijk sit eleventh on sixteen points following back-to-back 1-1 draws. Almere City FC have twenty-two points and five clean sheets, but they have dropped their last two matches and will be without injured midfielder Mees Hoedemakers. Our model issues a low-confidence forecast for a Waalwijk win, supported by a high-confidence call for more than 2.5 total goals.
Saturday
MVV host second-placed VVV Venlo on Saturday afternoon. MVV sit tenth with seventeen points and halted a two-game skid with a 2-2 draw at Den Bosch. VVV Venlo hold twenty-five points and enter the fixture in strong form, having won 4-2 away at Dordrecht to take their goal total to thirty-four in twelve matches, led by Leon Schmidt's five goals this season.
Sunday
Third-placed Emmen welcome Den Bosch on Sunday. Emmen are level on twenty-five points with VVV Venlo after winning three straight matches, including a 2-0 victory at Vitesse and a 2-1 result against Almere City FC, with Jack Cooper Love already on nine goals. Den Bosch sit thirteenth on fifteen points and are unbeaten in their last three after drawing 2-2 with MVV.
Monday
League leaders Heracles host fourteenth-placed TOP Oss. Heracles have collected twenty-nine points with thirty-seven goals scored and only fourteen conceded, drawing 1-1 at NAC Breda last time out, though they remain without injured goalkeeper Fabian de Keijzer. TOP Oss drew 3-3 with Jong Ajax last week and have thirteen points.
Jong Ajax, placed fifteenth with twelve points, host ninth-placed Vitesse. The home side played out a 3-3 draw at TOP Oss in their previous outing, while Vitesse suffered a 2-0 defeat against Emmen and look to top scorer Naoufal Bannis, who has ten goals this season, to spark their attack.
Twelfth-placed Jong PSV U21 host sixth-placed NAC Breda. The hosts snapped a brief slump with a 2-1 win at FC Eindhoven, while NAC Breda sit on twenty-one points after taking seven points from their past three games, including a 1-1 draw against Heracles.
In the final fixture of the round, bottom-placed Jong Utrecht face eighteenth-placed Dordrecht. Jong Utrecht have seven points and have lost three consecutive games, conceding six at FC Volendam last week. Dordrecht enter with eleven points after falling 4-2 to VVV Venlo, having won only one of their last three matches.
Table implications
Matchweek 13 offers contenders a direct opportunity to shift the top six. If Heracles slip up against TOP Oss, both VVV Venlo and Emmen sit four points back and can cut into the lead. Lower down, the Friday clash between Helmond Sport and FC Eindhoven could alter the separation between the relegation scrap and the safety of mid-table.
