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FC Utrecht
Eredivisie | Gameweek 18
Jan 24, 2021 at 1.30pm UK
Stadion Galgenwaard
Sparta Rotterdam logo

Utrecht
1 - 0
Sparta

Boussaid (88')
Maher (56')
FT(HT: 0-0)

Auassar (76')

Preview: FC Utrecht vs. Sparta Rotterdam - prediction, team news, lineups

Sports Mole previews Sunday's Eredivisie clash between FC Utrecht and Sparta Rotterdam, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.

Separated only on goals scored in the Eredivisie table, FC Utrecht and Sparta Rotterdam clash at the Stadion Galgenwaard on Sunday.

Both teams have had mixed results since the turn of the year, and each of them will be looking for consistency going forward.


Match preview

Henk Fraser, now in charge of Sparta Rotterdam, pictured in 2017© Reuters

Utrecht have finally picked up their first victory of 2021 at the third attempt, as they overcame Heracles Almelo 2-0 last Saturday.

Goals in either half from Sander van de Streek and Adrian Dalmau were enough to hand Rene Hake and his men a much-needed victory.

Saturday's hosts did a league double over their visitors last season, so there will be huge belief in the camp of repeating the feat.

The Domstedelingen have lost the fewest number of games of all the teams outside the top five, but a league-high nine draws have ultimately limited them to the 10th position that they currently occupy.

Sparta played out a frantic 5-3 goal fest against PSV Eindhoven last Saturday, in a game where both defences were abysmal to say the least.

Henk Fraser's men took the lead through Bryan Smeets, before PSV hit back with four unreplied goals, and were cruising to a comfortable victory.

De Kasteelheren pulled two goals back in the second half to set up a nerve-wracking finale, but their fate was ultimately sealed in added time by Donyell Malen.

In the last 10 meetings between Saturday's opponents, Sparta have lost eight, so they clearly have it all to do in order to stop the rot.

FC Utrecht Eredivisie form: DWDDLW

Sparta Rotterdam Eredivisie form: WLWLWL


Team News

Sparta's Bart Vriends is still out with a thigh problem, which should see Tom Beugelsdijk continue to fill in for him.

Abdou Harroui missed his side's game against PSV last time out, and he is a major doubt for this one.

Utrecht will be without Eljero Elia and Emil Bergstrom, who are both making steady progress towards returning to action.

Maarten Paes is also unavailable for the home side, but he is also close to featuring again for the first time since last December.

FC Utrecht possible starting lineup:
Oelschlagel; Warmerdam, Janssen, St Jago, Ter Avest; Maher, Van Overeem, Van De Streek; Ramselaar, Dalmau, Kerk

Sparta Rotterdam possible starting lineup:
Okoye; Meijers, Heylen, Beugelsdijk, Fortes; Auassar, Burger, Smeets; Duarte, Mijnans, Thy


SM words green background

We say: FC Utrecht 2-1 Sparta Rotterdam

Utrecht have enjoyed the better of this fixture in recent years, and they will be going up against a side who are letting in far too many goals at the moment.


Top betting tip

Our expert tipster partners at Sporita.com are predicting under 3.5 goals in this match. Click here to find out what else they are predicting for this game and for more of their tried-and-tested football tips.Under 3.5:data



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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 FC Utrecht win with a probability of 57.95%. A draw had a probability of 22.2% and a win for Sparta Rotterdam had a probability of 19.84%.

The most likely scoreline for a FC Utrecht win was 1-0 with a probability of 10.38%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (9.93%) and 2-0 (9.82%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (10.49%), while for a Sparta Rotterdam win it was 0-1 (5.55%). The actual scoreline of 1-0 was predicted with a 10.4% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted a 1-0 win for FC Utrecht in this match.


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Game History

How you voted: Utrecht vs Sparta

FC Utrecht
91.7%
Draw
0.0%
Sparta Rotterdam
8.3%
12
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Today's games header
Tables header RHS
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1PSV EindhovenPSV1211014093133
2FC UtrechtUtrecht119112011928
3Ajax1182125111426
4Feyenoord1274128131525
5FC Twente1264224111322
6AZ AlkmaarAZ125252314917
7Fortuna SittardSittard125251316-317
8NECNijmegen125161910916
9Willem II124351312115
10Go Ahead Eagles124351520-515
11NAC BredaNAC Breda125071221-915
12Heerenveen124261323-1014
13Groningen123361219-712
14PEC Zwolle123361422-812
15Heracles123361223-1112
16Sparta RotterdamSparta122551218-611
17Almere CityAlmere City12138627-216
18RKC WaalwijkRKC Waalwijk1211101031-214


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