Almere City FC and FC Den Bosch meet again on Saturday afternoon in the return leg of their VriendenLoterij Eredivisie relegation/promotion playoff tie, with everything still very much alive after that wild 3-2 first-leg win for Almere in Den Bosch on 29 April. It was the kind of game that leaves both benches drained and both sets of fans thinking the same thing: there’s plenty more chaos to come.
For Almere City, this second leg is about finishing the job and protecting their place at this level. For FC Den Bosch, it’s about turning a two-legged deficit into a promotion push that still feels possible if they can find some defensive discipline. That’s the catch, though. They’ve rarely looked like a side built to keep the lid on a game. Almere haven’t either. So if you’re expecting a cagey 1-0 with everyone acting like the stakes are too heavy, you’ll probably be disappointed.
The first leg gave us a very clear picture of how this tie might go. Almere went into Den Bosch and won 3-2, landing more shots, more efforts on target and more big chances than the hosts. Den Bosch did enough to stay in touch, but they were chasing too often and paying for it. A second leg at Almere City FC’s ground should tilt the picture their way, although this tie has already shown that control is a fragile thing here.
Almere City FC Form & Analysis
Almere City come into this one in a mood that feels half-relief, half-bloodlust. They followed a messy away loss at VVV-Venlo with a convincing 4-1 home win over FC Dordrecht, then stumbled again at Willem II Tilburg, losing 2-1. That defeat was irritating, but it didn’t knock them off course for long. A 1-2 home loss to FC Den Bosch in early April raised a few eyebrows, yet they answered it with a 3-2 home win over TOP Oss and then the key first-leg victory in Den Bosch. That’s two wins from their last three and plenty of goals at the right end. Not bad at all.
The bigger picture is even louder. Almere have been a constant threat in front of goal, scoring in wave after wave rather than relying on one moment of quality. Six goals in their last two playoff meetings with Den Bosch tells its own story. They’re not a side that sits back and waits to be punished; they want to impose themselves, and Jeroen Rijsdijk will know that if they keep creating the same volume of chances, they’ll probably get through. Their recent run also includes a blunt trend that matters here: they’ve been involved in plenty of open games. That’s not a fluke. It’s how they play, and it’s how they defend too. The balance is attack-first, and the cost is obvious.
There’s no home record available in the standings data, which is a shame because this is exactly the kind of match where a team’s ground should tell you plenty. Still, the shape of their recent results hints at a side that’s comfortable in a shootout. They’re scoring regularly, they’re not keeping clean sheets, and they’ve been dragged into matches where both teams get chances. That’s not ideal if you want calm. It’s very good if you want entertainment. For Almere, the task is simple enough: keep the tempo up, don’t get passive, and trust that their attacking rhythm will do the rest.
FC Den Bosch Form & Analysis
FC Den Bosch arrive with a very different kind of energy. Their last six matches tell a story of frustration, recovery attempts, and then fresh disappointment. They drew 1-1 at home with Jong FC Utrecht, drew 0-0 with SC Cambuur, and sandwiched those with defeats to ADO Den Haag and TOP Oss. The one bright spot was the 2-1 home win over Almere City back on 6 April, a result that briefly suggested they had a read on this opponent. Since then, though, the wheels have come off. The 3-2 first-leg defeat was their fifth match without a win. That’s a long time to be searching.
They do have a habit of staying involved in matches. Den Bosch aren’t getting shut out much, and they’re not exactly failing to create their own chances either. That’s why this tie feels so volatile. They scored twice in the first leg, and they’ve been on the scoresheet in each of their last seven head-to-head meetings with Almere. The problem is what happens the other way. Seven games without a clean sheet is a serious issue, and it’s hard to see them fixing that overnight away from home with the tie hanging in the balance. Ulrich Landvreugd needs a more compact structure than the one that allowed Almere 26 shots in the first leg. That won’t be easy.
The away record isn’t available in the league data, so we have to lean on the recent pattern instead. And the pattern is clear enough. Den Bosch are capable of causing problems, but they’re too easy to open up, and they keep finding themselves in matches where their opponents create the better chances. That first leg was a textbook example: Almere had 11 shots on target to Den Bosch’s five and seven big chances to four. Even when Den Bosch are competitive, they’re still trailing the contest underneath. If you’re backing them to go through from here, you’re relying on a lot more than belief.
Head-to-Head
This fixture has had goals in it for a while, and not just lately. Almere beat Den Bosch 3-2 in the first leg on 29 April, but Den Bosch had already beaten Almere 2-1 at home on 6 April, so this playoff tie has already seen both sides land a punch. Go a little further back and the meetings get even more open: Den Bosch hammered Almere 5-2 in November 2025, while a 1-1 friendly in August 2025 was the exception rather than the rule.
The strongest H2H angle is the simplest one. Both teams have scored in five straight meetings between these clubs, and there’s no obvious sign of that ending here. Clean sheets have been scarce on both sides. Very scarce. When these two meet, the game usually turns messy, and that suits neither defence.
We Predict: Both Teams To Score
We’re backing Both Teams To Score at 2/5 for this second leg, and it feels like the clearest call on the card. For more context beyond this pick, see our accumulator betting guide, which breaks down accumulator betting including how to build combos without padding the slip. Almere have been involved in a stream of high-event games, Den Bosch have gone seven straight without a clean sheet, and the first leg already gave us a proper look at how much space both sides are prepared to leave. You don’t need much more than that. This should be open again.
A 2-1 home win is the scoreline that stands out. Almere have the attacking edge, they’ve already shown they can land the heavier blows in this tie, and Den Bosch have enough going forward to get on the board even if they spend long stretches under pressure. The one tension here is obvious: a 2-1 call is fine, but it also leans into the same chaos that makes BTTS attractive. That’s the point. If the match settles down, this bet gets shakier. If it stays like the first leg, you’re in business quickly.
If you wanted a slightly bigger price, over 2.5 goals is the obvious alternative. But BTTS is the cleaner play. Both teams have made this tie noisy already, and there’s little reason to expect them to stop now.
