Eredivisie

The Eredivisie is the top league in Dutch football and contains 18 teams, but the format of the league will be unfamiliar to fans of the English Premier League and La Liga. The 18th team is automatically relegated, and the champion of the Eerste Divisie is automatically promoted. The 17th and 16th placed teams in the Eredivisie then go into separate four man groups with three teams from the Eerste Divisie, where each team plays each other in home and away fixtures. The winner of each of these mini-leagues goes into the Eredivisie while the other teams play in the Eerste Divisie.

The Dutch league also has a play-off system for Europe, with the top two teams gaining Champions League football, and the second and third placed teams gaining Europa League football. The teams from fifth to eighth then play each other in a knockout competition, similar to the Championship play-offs, with the winner going into the Europa League. There is also another Europa League spot for the winner of the Dutch Cup.

Historically, Dutch teams have done very well in Europe, with Ajax having won the European Cup four times. PSV Eindhoven and Feyenord have also both won the premier European competition. However, more recently Dutch clubs have struggled to have an impact on the Champions League, and no Dutch club has reached the knockout round in the last two seasons.

Ajax are also seen as having one of the best youth academies in the world, and have produced talents such as Johann Cruyff, Patrick Kluivert and Marco van Basten, and more recently Wesley Sneijder, Rafael van der Vaart and Zlatan Ibrahimovic. However, this reputation has led to the top European clubs buying these players when they are younger, which may be a contributing factor in the current weakness of Dutch teams in Europe.

The Eredivisie is traditionally dominated by Feyenord, Ajax and PSV. Since 1965, one of these sides has won the title every year except two, with AZ Alkmaar winning in 1981 and 2009. Currently PSV are top of the table, and can be backed at 4/9 to win the title, with FC Twente a way behind at 13/2. Ajax are best priced at 10/1 to win the title this year. Betting on the Eredivisie is quite widespread in the UK, with almost all bookmakers offering odds on the winner, top goalscorer and also match betting.

Eredivisie betting odds