Feyenoord will be hoping to rediscover their form in the Eredivisie this weekend when they travel to Rat Verlegh Stadion to face NAC Breda on Saturday afternoon.
The hosts are in 10th place in the league standings with 26 points after 22 games, while the visitors are fifth with 39 points but have played a game less than three of the teams above them.
Match preview
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Feyenoord were dealt a very tough run of fixtures either side of the New Year, ending 2024 with an away game to PSV before returning in 2025 with fixtures against Utrecht and Ajax, and a trip to Willem II.
During that run, the Pride of South managed only a solitary point against the newly promoted side, while suffering defeat in the other three matches, which many feel brought an end to their title hopes this season.
With 12 points separating them and the league leaders, the club opted to part ways with Brian Priske following the defeat to Ajax and appointed Pascal Bosschaart as caretaker manager until a suitable replacement can be found.
The former Under-21s coach made his debut in the dugout in midweek and guided the side to a crucial 1-0 victory over AC Milan in their Champions League first-leg playoff tie, and he will now look to make a winning start in his first league match at the helm.
However, his side has been very poor on the road of late, losing each of their last three away games across all competitions, conceding 10 goals in that time, including six against Lille, while only managing to score two over the same period.
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Meanwhile, NAC Breda will likely be fairly pleased with their output upon returning to the top flight, as they are nine points clear of the drop and could end this weekend in the top half of the league standings.
However, Parel van het Zuiden are coming into this match off the back of their heaviest defeat of the season, losing 5-0 on the road to RKC Waalwijk last week, which extended their winless run in the top flight to three games.
Notably, Carl Hoefkens's side have been particularly leaky in defence of late, with last week's defeat marking the fifth time in the last seven league games that they conceded two or more goals in a match.
As a result, NAC have now shipped a total of 41 goals this season, which is the third-most of any team in the division, only behind the bottom two teams RKC Waalwijk (45) and Almere City (43).
The hosts lost the reverse fixture 2-0 at Stadion Feijenoord in September, a result that marked their third consecutive defeat to this opponent dating back to 2018.
Team News
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NAC have two players currently sidelined through injury in Raul Paula and Cherrion Valerius, though the latter is reportedly back in training and could be close to returning to the first-team squad.
Elias Mar Omarsson has been in a rich vein of form lately, netting four goals in his last five league matches, and he will almost certainly lead the line again this week alongside Sydney van Hooijdonk.
A portion of Feyenoord's dip in form of late is attributable to their lengthy injury list, which extended even further in the last week, with centre-forward Ayase Ueda sustaining a hamstring injury.
Gernot Trauner, Justin Bijlow and Jordan Lotomba are all ruled out for at least another month, while Calvin Stengs, Chris-Kevin Nadje and Ramiz Zerrouki are expected to be out for a few weeks.
NAC Breda possible starting lineup:
Bielica; Greiml, Kongolo, Van den Bergh; Kuijpers, Balard, Janosek, Jensen, Sauer; Van Hooijdonk, Omarsson
Feyenoord possible starting lineup:
Wellenreuther; Nieuwkoop, Beelen, Hancko, Hartman; Moder, Milambo, Timber; Moussa, Carranza; Paixao
We say: NAC Breda 0-2 Feyenoord
NAC Breda enjoyed a solid first half of the season, but they have been shipping goals in bulk lately, and we feel that the visitors, despite not playing their best football of late, will be able to secure the points in this one.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Devesh Jaganath
