Having given their chances of Eredivisie survival a huge boost with a seven-game unbeaten run, Emmen play host to Heracles at De Oude Meerdijk on Sunday.
On the flip side, Heracles are five points away from the last European playoff place, and any dropped points from here on could signal the end of their continental aspirations.
Match preview
Emmen continued their recent renaissance by overcoming Fortuna Sittard in a 3-1 win on Saturday to claim a second victory on the bounce.
Sergio Pena and Glenn Bijl both netted from the spot either side of a Dimitris Emmanouilidis equaliser, before Paul Gladon put the clash to bed in added time.
Dick Lukkien's men are still in the relegation zone, but they are now just four points from safety with a game in hand.
They were well beaten in their last encounter against the visitors in January's reverse fixture, which ended in a 4-0 rout.
However, exacting revenge is not the only thing on the agenda for the hosts as they would move within a point of safety by claiming all three in this one.
Heracles returned to winning ways in grand style with an emphatic 4-0 triumph over Willem II on Saturday at the Erve Asito.
Sinan Bakis bagged a first-half brace, while goals in the second period from Robin Propper and Rai Vloet helped Frank Wormuth's men press home their advantage.
The Heraclieden moved into eighth place on the log as a result of that win, but they are still five points adrift of a European place.
Saturday's hosts have suffered three of their last four defeats away from home, and this has been an Achilles' heel for them this term.
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Team News
Lucas Bernadou was substituted after just 22 minutes in his side's last home fixture due to a muscle injury, and he is expected to miss this weekend's game.
Luciano Carty is ruled out with a shoulder problem which has kept him on the sidelines for the past five months of action.
Marko Kolar is yet to return to the first team after the Croatian forward was diagnosed with coronavirus just under a month ago.
The away side are set to be without the services of 23-year-old Ismail Azzaoui, who recently picked up a knee problem.
Frank Wormuth has employed a 4-4-2 formation in recent matches, and he is likely to stick with the system for Sunday's clash.
Emmen possible starting lineup:
Verrips; Cavlan, Bakker, Araujo, Bijl; Moussa, Vlak, Pena; Frei, Adzic, Gladon
Heracles possible starting lineup:
Blaswich; Quagliata, Knoester, Propper, Fadiga; Burgzorg, De la Torre, Schoofs, Jakobsen; Bakis, Vloet
We say: Emmen 2-1 Heracles
The home side are full of confidence at the moment due to a strong run of form in the last eight weeks. We expect them to be pushed all the way in this one but nonetheless, we are backing them to get the job done.
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 Emmen win with a probability of 43.11%. A win for Heracles had a probability of 32% and a draw had a probability of 24.9%.
The most likely scoreline for a Emmen win was 1-0 with a probability of 9.05%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (9.02%) and 2-0 (6.97%). The likeliest Heracles win was 0-1 (7.6%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (11.71%). The actual scoreline of 3-1 was predicted with a 4.6% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Emmen would win this match.
