Feyenoord seek a fourth consecutive league win when they welcome a Fortuna Sittard side four places back in the Eredivisie table in Saturday's gameweek 14 match at Stadion Feijenoord.
Fresh off a stunning comeback Champions League draw against Manchester City, the fourth-placed hosts seek to extend the travelling club's two-match losing sequence.
Match preview
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Entering the final half-hour at the Etihad Stadium, even the most optimistic Feyenoord supporter would have wanted the final whistle, with the Dutch side 3-0 down after 53 minutes against Pep Guardiola's team.
What followed was the extension of the Cityzens' wretched winless streak, with goals from Anis Hadj Moussa, Santiago Gimenez and David Hancko in the final 15 minutes sealing an unforeseen 3-3 draw for De Stadionclub.
The upshot of picking up a point is that a side that might have gone into Saturday's Eredivisie game crestfallen after a heavy defeat in Manchester will head into playing Fortuna in high spirits, keen to extend their winning streak at the away side's expense.
Brian Priske's troops enter round 14 on the back of a pair of home wins over AZ (3-2) and Heerenveen (3-0), either side of a 4-1 road triumph over Almere City and the league's second-top scorers will back themselves to record a fourth consecutive Eredivisie triumph this weekend.
Only Ajax have stopped the hosts from scoring at De Kuip this term, but subsequent wins over AZ and Heerenveen suggest that the 2-0 loss to a possible title contender was only a blip.
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That confidence is boosted due to Fortuna's ongoing wobble, marked by back-to-back losses against PEC Zwolle (1-3) and Twente (1-2), having avoided losing in the previous five (three wins, two draws).
Danny Buijs's team appeared to have overcome early-season struggles with that five-match undefeated Eredivisie run (six in all competitions) but could suffer a third straight league defeat for the second time in 2024-25 when they visit in-form hosts.
The Sittard-Geleen outfit lost four on the trot to NEC (0-3), NAC Breda (0-1), Ajax (0-5) and PSV (1-3) following a winning start against Go Ahead Eagles (2-0) and Almere City (3-0) and appeared to have corrected course with the aforementioned unbeaten run.
Given Fortuna's ongoing defeats, the away side's supporters may be braced for another disappointment against in-form opponents, even if they hope Manchester exertions cause a slow start in Rotterdam.
However, recent results in this fixture have not favoured them, as highlighted by a 10-match winless run (two draws, eight losses) before this weekend's encounter, which could become 11 after Saturday's events.
Team News
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Julian Carranza became the first Feyenoord player to record a goal involvement in his first three Eredivisie starts since Roy Makaay in 2007 and aims to continue that run against Fortuna.
Priske will be without Quilindschy Hartman, Ibrahim Osman, Hugo Bueno, and Ayase Ueda for their upcoming league match.
A knee issue is anticipated to keep Kaj Sierhuis out for Fortuna, but the visitors will assess Onur Demir before the gameweek 14 fixture.
Ezequiel Bullaude is the eighth-placed club's joint goalscorer and could add to his tally in Rotterdam.
Feyenoord possible starting lineup:
Wellenreuther; Nieuwkoop, Trauner, Hancko, Smal; Timber, In-Beom, Milambo; Moussa, Carranza, Paixao
Fortuna Sittard possible starting lineup:
Branderhorst; Pinto, Adewoye, Guth, Rosier, Dahlhaus; Cruz, Fosso, Ottele, Bullaude; Aiko
We say: Feyenoord 2-0 Fortuna Sittard
Even though Feyenoord had a demanding European match against Man City, they are still favoured to win their upcoming Eredivisie game, thus extending their winning streak to four in the competition and continuing their strong record against Fortuna Sittard, having not lost to them in their last 10 encounters.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
