The floodlights will be beaming down on De Adelaarshorst in midweek when Go Ahead Eagles play host to Noordwijk in the quarter-final of the KNVB Beker.
The hosts booked their spot in the quarter-final of this competition by beating Twente 3-1, while the visitors overcame Barendrecht 1-0 in extra time in the round of 16.
Match preview
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Go Ahead Eagles are enjoying an impressive season, currently sitting in seventh place in the Eredivisie with 32 points after 20 games following a late comeback to salvage a 2-2 draw against the Tukkers over the weekend.
That result took the pride of the IJssel to six matches unbeaten in the top flight - the longest active run without defeat in the league - and eight matches unbeaten across all competitions dating back to early December.
Notably, Kowet have also experienced a notable improvement in their attacking output of late, scoring two or more goals in all but one of their last 10 matches in all competitions, and they are just 10 goals short of the 47 they posted across the entire of last season in the Eredivisie.
In the domestic cup, Paul Simonis's side have beaten Sparta Rotterdam and Twente in their two previous games, booking them a spot in the quarter-finals after two seasons of bowing out in the round of 16.
The hosts are massive favourites in this contest, and with good reason, as they are unbeaten in their last seven games at De Adelaarshorst (W5 D2 L0), and scored two or more goals in each of those matches.
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In contrast, Noordwijk are having a very difficult season in the Tweede Divisie, currently on just 15 points after 17 games and firmly involved in the relegation scrap along with Scheveningen and basement club ADO '20.
Florian Wolf's side were handed a 4-1 hiding by Almere City II over the weekend, which was their 12th loss in the third tier this season and third in succession following defeats to Quick Boys (3-2) and De Treffers (2-0).
Thus, the only real positive for the visitors this season has been their performances in this competition, having navigated a few tricky encounters to this point, most notably, beating Willem II 2-1 at home in the second round.
However, progressing beyond the quarter-final seems unlikely for Noordwijk given their dismal record on the road, where they have failed to win any of their last nine matches across all competitions and are riding a three-match losing streak.
Team News
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Go Ahead Eagles will have to navigate the remainder of the season without Oliver Valaker Edvardsen, who was their top-scorer over the first half of the campaign before being snapped up by Ajax for around £3m last week.
The hosts are also missing two players through injury for this match, with Pim Saathof sidelined for the next three weeks with an unspecified issue, while Finn Stokkers is working his way back to fitness after a month out with a knock.
Noordwijk, on the other hand, brought in now-former Tulsa shot-stopper Joey Roggeveen earlier in the winter transfer window, and the 26-year-old is expected to feature in the cup for the first time for his new employers in midweek.
Virgil Tjin-Asjoe has scored three times off the bench for the visitors in this season's KNVB Beker and will likely be given a start this week alongside Arantis Roep, who scored the winner for the side in the last two rounds of the competition.
Go Ahead Eagles possible starting lineup:
Plogmann; Deijl, Nauber, Kramer, James; Twigt, Llansana; Antman, Breum, Tengstedt; Smit
Noordwijk possible starting lineup:
Roggeveen; Manessim, Rietveld, Da Fonseca, Strooker; Franken, Marbus; Roep, Reemnet, Tjin-Asjoe; Wendt
We say: Go Ahead Eagles 2-0 Noordwijk
While Go Ahead Eagles saw their top-scorer Oliver Valaker Edvardsen depart to Ajax in the last week, they performed exceptionally well to salvage a point against Twente over the weekend without him, and we feel they will have too much firepower for their opponents in this one.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Devesh Jaganath
