FC Emmen will be aiming to move outside of the relegation places when they host PSV Eindhoven in the Dutch Eredivisie on Tuesday.
The visitors, meanwhile, would move ahead of league leaders Feyenoord on goal difference with a two-goal victory.
Match preview
Having bounced back from the Netherlands' second tier at the first attempt by winning the Eerste Divisie last season, Emmen are hoping to avoid an instant return this time around.
Dick Lukkien has been in charge throughout that process since taking over his first head coaching role in July 2016, with the former BV Veendam player guiding the club to promotion via the playoffs in the 2017-18 season.
Lukkien went on to oversee two successive survival campaigns before their relegation was sealed with a penalty shootout defeat to NAC Breda after finishing in the relegation playoff spot in 2021.
That exact position is where they find themselves ahead of taking on PSV on Tuesday, with Lukkien likely to be realistic about his side's chances of claiming a positive result against one of the giants of Dutch football.
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Indeed, with Ajax dominating the Eredivisie by lifting the last three titles on offer, PSV will be hoping to capitalise on their arch rivals seemingly dropping off a level since the departure of Erik ten Hag to Manchester United last summer.
Ruud van Nistelrooy's side ended a winless run of three league games by beating Vitesse 1-0 on Saturday, with Guus Til's strike three minutes after the break proving enough to claim all three points for his team.
Despite their recent sticky patch, it could be a hugely successful first campaign for the former Man Utd striker given that his side remain in the hunt for the Europa League and the Netherlands' domestic cup, too, but they must take one game at a time at this stage of their development.
With PSV facing two fixtures against bottom-half teams ahead of a massive clash against league leaders Feyenoord in early February, Van Nistelrooy - who took over during the summer after a season with the reserve team - will be expecting to make up some ground on their title rivals beforehand.
After Davy Klaassen's second-half equaliser for Ajax saw both of PSV's main rivals drop points against each other in a 1-1 draw at the weekend, top spot is on offer for the Red and Whites if they can comfortably dispatch Emmen on Tuesday.
Team News
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Emmen are likely to be without Jeff Hardeveld and Maikel Kieftenbeld for the rest of the season due to serious ACL injuries, while Oussama Darfalou, Metehan Guclu and Mart Leider are all unlikely to be ready for Tuesday.
Richairo Zivkovic will almost certainly lead the line for Lukkien's side after bagging his third league goal of the season in his side's 3-1 defeat to NEC Nijmegen at the weekend.
PSV, meanwhile, will travel without Kjell Peersman, Olivier Boscagli and Fode Fofana due to injury, while Savio is also a doubt due to personal reasons.
Fitness permitting, Van Nistelrooy is unlikely to make any changes from the starting XI which dispatched Vitesse on Saturday, but the legendary striker will almost certainly call from some substitutes during the latter stages.
Emmen possible starting lineup:
Van der Hart; Bouchouari, Araujo, Veldmate, Dirksen; Veendorp, Vlak; Romeny, El Messaoudi, Diemers; Zivkovic
PSV Eindhoven possible starting lineup:
Benitez; Teze, Branthwaite, Obispo, Mwene; Sangare, Gutierrez; Simons, Til, El Ghazi; De Jong
We say: Emmen 0-2 PSV Eindhoven
This should be a comfortable victory for PSV, who are likely to have gained plenty of confidence from ending their winless streak at the weekend.
Emmen find themselves in the bottom three ahead of this fixture and they may be targeting their fixture against RKC Waalwijk on Saturday as a more realistic escape route.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Brett Curtis
