Sparta Rotterdam and FC Utrecht will lock horns on Sunday, as both teams look to end winless runs of form.
A run of seven games without a victory has seen the hosts drop into the bottom three of the Eredivisie table, while their visitors sit seventh despite failing to win any of their last five matches.
Match preview
© Reuters
Sparta Rotterdam have had to battle through a difficult first half of the Eredivisie season, winning just two of their 19 games and amassing a concerning tally of 14 points.
After a rare 3-0 victory over Willem II in November, Henk Fraser's men have failed to add another notch to their wins column in seven attempts, firstly suffering consecutive defeats at the hands of FC Twente, Ajax and AZ Alkmaar.
However, De Kasteelheren may be showing slightly more encouraging signs recently, having now drawn their last four games in the Dutch top flight, holding Heerenveen, Vitesse and RKC Waalwijk before they earned another point against Cambuur last weekend.
Fraser's men trailed 1-0 heading into the final 15 minutes after Tim Coremans's first-half own goal, but Adrian Dalmau netted a 77th-minute equaliser to stretch their run of draws, with a seven-game winless streak quickly becoming a run of four games without a loss.
Nonetheless, the Rotterdam outfit remain in the bottom three, and, with Willem II sitting four points ahead, they will know they need victories if they are to jump out of the bottom three and preserve their top-flight status again this term.
Utrecht arrive also looking to break a winless run, albeit without the threat of relegation this season.
Rene Hake's side enjoyed a strong start to the domestic campaign, picking up 26 points from their first 14 Eredivisie meetings, but they have since fallen on slightly tougher times.
After league leaders PSV Eindhoven handed them a fifth league defeat of the season, the Domstedelingen went on to play out draws with Go Ahead Eagles, Fortuna Sittard and FC Twente before facing the daunting task of a clash with Dutch giants Ajax.
Antony opened the scoring for the Amsterdam side and Brian Brobbey added a brace before half time to seal a dominant 3-0 away win, seeing Utrecht fall further behind the league's top six.
While they may be concerned by a five-game winless run, the only defeats in that spell have come against the league's two runaway teams, and Hake's side will now hope to correct their form against a struggling Sparta Rotterdam side.
- L
- L
- D
- D
- D
- D
- L
- D
- L
- D
- D
- D
- W
- L
- D
- D
- D
- L
- L
- D
- L
- D
- D
- L
Team News
© Reuters
After a string of commendable draws, Sparta Rotterdam will again field their preferred 3-5-2 system, with only minimal changes expected from last weekend.
Adrian Dalmau will lead the line against his former club, having opened his account for Sparta at the first time of asking last time out after a January switch from Utrecht.
Bart Vriends, Tom Beugelsdijk and Dirk Abels should again line up in a back three, shielding goalkeeper Tim Coremans.
The Utrecht attack will be led by Anastasios Douvikas, who has netted four league goals since his summer switch from Volos NPS.
He could again be flanked by Sander van de Streek and Mimoun Mahi with Quinten Timber, Adam Maher and Naoki Maeda expected to handle business in the engine room.
Sparta Rotterdam possible starting lineup:
Coremans; Vriends, Beugelsdijk, Abels; Masouras, Namly, Van Crooy, Mijnans, Meijers; Thy, Dalmau
FC Utrecht possible starting lineup:
De Keijzer; Ter Avest, Van Der Hoorn, Van Der Maarel, Warmerdam; Timber, Maher, Maeda; Van De Streek, Douvikas, Mahi
We say: Sparta Rotterdam 1-1 FC Utrecht
Sparta Rotterdam have been resilient to deny some strong sides victories in recent weeks, and we see the same happening on Sunday.
While Utrecht possess the ability to put the relegation-threatened team to the sword, they have struggled for form recently and may have to settle for a share of the spoils.
Top tip
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a FC Utrecht win with a probability of 47.49%. A win for Sparta Rotterdam had a probability of 27.4% and a draw had a probability of 25.1%.
The most likely scoreline for a FC Utrecht win was 0-1 with a probability of 10.55%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-2 (9.36%) and 0-2 (8.28%). The likeliest Sparta Rotterdam win was 1-0 (7.6%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (11.92%). The actual scoreline of 0-3 was predicted with a 4.3% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that FC Utrecht would win this match.
