FC Utrecht will go in search of three league victories on the bounce for the first time since the turn of the year when they welcome NEC to the Stadion Galgenwaard on Saturday afternoon.
Having claimed a 2-1 victory in November's reverse meeting, the hosts have the opportunity to complete a league double over their visitors, who will have one eye on exacting revenge.
Match preview
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Off the back of six games without a victory from mid-January till mid-February, Utrecht saw their faint title hopes extinguished completely and now had finishing third as their major objective for the final knockings of the season.
A 2-2 stalemate against PSV Eindhoven in their final outing of February, where Ron Jans's men were pegged back in stoppage time, was utterly agonising but also offered some source of encouragement, which was further boosted by a 1-0 win over Breda to get March underway.
Looking to build on their positive start to the month, De Domstedelingen claimed a 3-2 triumph over Willem II thanks to Adrian Blake's winner five minutes from time after Boris Lambert and Runar Sigurgeirsson had cancelled out goals from Sebastien Haller and Noah Ohio.
Now just six points shy of PSV in second place, Utrecht are still in the race for Champions League qualification, although they are also looking over their shoulders anxiously with FC Twente and Feyenoord just three and five points respectively, with the latter also having a game in hand.
Picking up just a little over 40% (20) of their 49 points so far on home turf, Saturday's hosts will need to improve their home form as they seek to feature on the continental front for the second season running.
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NEC went without a victory from their final six games of 2024 across all competitions, but two wins and a share of the spoils from their opening three encounters of 2025 suggested a change in fortunes.
However, Rogier Meijer's men have since gone winless in their subsequent six matches following Sunday's narrow 3-2 defeat to Go Ahead Eagles when the teams went head-to-head at Stadion de Goffert.
Despite being both a goal and a man down after the opening 50 minutes, the Eniesee managed to find the back of the net twice through Brayann Pereira and Kento Shiogai, although they were were unable to avoid defeat.
Those dropped points last time out have seen NEC remain 13th in the standings, and their hopes of leapfrogging Fortuna Sittard in the race for the final Conference League playoff spot continue to diminish with every passing week.
In what is set to be their final outing before the March international break, Saturday's visitors will be keen to get back to winning ways on the road where they have failed to come out on top since January 11.
Team News
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Utrecht duo Yoann Cathline and Rickson Van Hees are yet to fully recuperate from knee injuries, while Miguel Rodriguez continues his personal battle with a groin problem.
Having not made an appearance since mid-January due to an ankle issue, Niklas Vesterlund could have played his final game of the season for the hosts already.
Mike van der Hoorn came off with a knock in the final knockings of his side's most recent involvement, making the defender a doubt to feature here.
NEC's Philippe Sandler is set to miss a fourth game on the bounce due to a torn muscle in keeping with an injury-plagued season that has seen him feature just 11 times.
The away side will also be without the services of Lasse Schone, who received his marching orders for two bookable offences against Go Ahead Eagles last time out.
FC Utrecht possible starting lineup:
Barkas; El Karouani, Viergever, Didden, Horemans; Iqbal, Aaronson, Toornstra, Fraulo; Min, Haller
NEC possible starting lineup:
Roefs; Pereira, Marquez, Hoedemakers, Nuytinck, Ouwejan; Ouaissa, Van Crooy, Proper; Linssen, Hansen
We say: FC Utrecht 2-1 NEC
Both teams have had trouble keeping opponents at bay of late, and we expect neither of them to come away with a clean sheet.
That said, we are also backing Utrecht to make home advantage count and get the job done at the end of the 90 minutes.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
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