On the back of a fourth consecutive league defeat, ADO Den Haag have fallen deeper into relegation trouble, and they host Sparta Rotterdam on Sunday in search of a change in fortune.
Both teams have picked up only four of the last available 15 points, and are in desperate need of points albeit for very different reasons.
Match preview
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Sparta finally picked up their first home point of 2021 in a 0-0 draw against Twente on Thursday, after losing their first two games at the Het Kasteel since the turn of the year 2-0 and 5-3 to Feyenoord and PSV Eindhoven respectively.
Henk Fraser's men currently occupy 10th place, leading the trio of Heracles Almelo, Fortuna Sittard and VVV-Venlo below them only on goal difference as they are all tied on 22 points.
With games against two of the aforementioned three to follow after Sunday's trip to the Cars Jeans Stadion, De Kasteelheren have the chance to pull clear of their nearest challengers.
Top scorer Lennart Thy will be looking to get into double figures in terms of goals scored for the first time in his career.
ADO Den Haag were comfortably beaten 3-0 away at Groningen on Tuesday, in a game where they offered minimal threat going forward, mustering only one effort on target.
Another goalless outing - the second in a row - has left Ruud Brood's men with the worst attacking record in the league, having scored only 16 goals this term.
Alongside Emmen, Den Haag are yet to win a home league game this season, so it is no surprise to see them occupy 17th place in the Eredivisie table.
The visit of Sparta, who thrashed them 6-0 when the sides met in November, represents another daunting task for De Ooievaars, who already look like a team consigned to relegation.
ADO Den Haag Eredivisie form: LWLLDL
ADO Den Haag form (all competitions): WLLLDL
Sparta Rotterdam Eredivisie form: WLWLLD
Team News
In search of more attacking firepower, Den Haag have acquired the services of Bobby Adekanye on loan for the rest of the season.
He is in line for a league debut at the weekend, and he will hope to make an instant impact as his new club fights for their Eredivisie status.
The defensive duo of Peet Bijen and Daryl Janmaat are both ruled out for the game, but the former is poised to make his return from an ankle injury in the coming weeks.
Sparta's Bart Vriends continues his spell on the sidelines with a thigh problem that has kept him out since December.
Aaron Meijers was substituted early into the away side's loss to Utrecht on Sunday, and he has not recovered in time for this one.
ADO Den Haag possible starting lineup:
Koopmans; Familio-Castillo, Kemper, Del Fabro, Van Ewijk; Goossens, Vejinovic, Pinas; Bourard, Kramer, Besuijen
Sparta Rotterdam possible starting lineup:
Okoye; Meijers, Heylen, Beugelsdijk, Fortes; Auassar, Burger, Smeets; Duarte, Mijnans, Thy
We say: ADO Den Haag 0-2 Sparta Rotterdam
Sparta Rotterdam have already shown the gulf in quality between the sides, when they thrashed Den Haag 6-0 earlier in the season. This time out, the game should be much closer but ultimately, Sparta should come out on top once again.
Top betting tip
Adepoju Marvellous
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 Sparta Rotterdam win with a probability of 47.07%. A win for ADO Den Haag had a probability of 27.12% and a draw had a probability of 25.8%.
The most likely scoreline for a Sparta Rotterdam win was 0-1 with a probability of 11.4%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-2 (9.22%) and 0-2 (8.57%). The likeliest ADO Den Haag win was 1-0 (8.16%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (12.26%). The actual scoreline of 1-1 was predicted with a 12.3% likelihood.
