Separated by just one point in the standings, RKC Waalwijk and NEC go head-to-head at the Mandemakers Stadion on Saturday in round 26 of the 2022-23 Eredivisie season.
Having both failed to come out on top in their respective most recent involvements, the teams head into this weekend's clash in need of a lift.
Match preview
Waalwijk were denied a third victory on the bounce as they fell to a narrow 1-0 defeat against PSV Eindhoven in the sides' meeting two Sundays ago.
Joseph Oosting's men went behind to Johan Bakayoko's wonderful effort 10 minutes shy of half time, and that was enough to put them to the sword.
While RKC remain eighth in the Eredivisie table, they have now fallen six points behind FC Utrecht in the race for the final European spot.
Lying in store next is the challenge of an opposing outfit who have dominated this fixture to a large extent in recent times, winning five of the last seven encounters.
Off the back of a first home defeat in seven matches last time out, Saturday's hosts now set out to avoid consecutive losses in front of their fans for the first time in over a year.
NEC Nijmegen had to settle for a share of the spoils against FC Utrecht following a highly-entertaining 2-2 stalemate at Stadion de Goffert on Sunday.
Rogier Meijer's men raced to a two-goal lead thanks to Landry Dimata's double before second-half strikes from Bas Dost and Othman Boussaid restored parity.
With 31 points picked up from 25 matches so far, the Eniesee sit ninth in the league standings as they continue to impress on their return to the top tier of Dutch football.
Despite letting in the fewest number of goals away from home in the entire division, Saturday's visitors have also struggled offensively on their travels and will need to up the ante to stand any chance of triumphing in this one.
Team News
Nijmegen's Mathias de Wolf remains unavailable for selection due to a muscle problem, and the 21-year-old is still a long way off making his comeback
Despite being named on the bench two weeks ago, Robin Roefs is not up to full speed yet, so the goalkeeper will not play any part this weekend.
RKC's Mats Seuntjens has been directly involved in eight of his side's last 13 strikes, and he will be looking to deliver the goods once again.
Following his two-goal haul against Utrecht, Landry Dimata has now scored three goals in his last three appearances, making him one to keep an eye on.
RKC Waalwijk possible starting lineup:
Vaessen; Gaari, Van den Buijs, Nieuwpoort; Lelieveld, Bel Hassani, Anita, Clement, Lutonda; Kramer, Seuntjens
NEC possible starting lineup:
Cillessen; Van Rooy, Marquez, Sandler, El Karouani; Bruijn, Proper; Tavsan, Tannane, Mattsson; Dimata
We say: RKC Waalwijk 1-1 NEC
NEC boast arguably the better of the two squads, but Waalwijk's home record suggests this weekend's contest will be anything but straightforward. We are backing the teams to cancel each other out over the course of the 90 minutes and come away with honours even in the end.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
