Two teams who are neck and neck in the Eredivisie table face off in matchday 15 as Fortuna Sittard play host to Go Ahead Eagles at the Fortuna Sittard Stadion on Saturday.
The hosts are aiming to pick up a first victory in three matches, while their visitors set out to get back to winnings after their 11-game unbeaten run was recently ended.
Match preview
Fortuna Sittard played out a 1-1 stalemate against German lower league side Duisburg in their final warm-up fixture at the MSV-Arena on December 22.
Following a drab first half, Benjamin Girth opened the scoring 10 minutes from time, only for Namory Cisse to restore parity for Julio Velazquez's men right at the death.
Having come out on top in their final league outing against Groningen, the Fortunezen have moved up to 12th in the table and are just two points away from the top half.
Lying in store next is the challenge of an opposing outfit with just three wins in the most recent 10 meetings between the teams over the last decade.
Ahead of daunting tasks against PSV Eindhoven and AZ Alkmaar to follow, Saturday's hosts go in search of a morale-boosting victory in this weekend's contest.
Go Ahead Eagles suffered a first defeat since September as they were on the receiving end of a 7-4 thriller against Feyenoord at De Kuip on December 23.
Despite taking the lead early on through Isac Lidberg, Rene Hake's men conceded seven unanswered goals to trail 7-1, before late strikes from Enric Llansana, Jahnoah Markelo and Finn Stokkers reduced the deficit.
With 15 points from 14 league matches so far, the pride of the IJssel Kowet sit 11th in the standings, ahead of their next opponents only on goal difference.
Off the back of seeing their run of five away games without a defeat come to an end last time out, Saturday's visitors will be keen to avoid back-to-back losses away from home for the first time in over four months.
Team News
Oguzhan Ozyakup's involvement for Fortuna Sittard here continues to hang in the balance as he is yet to fully recover from a muscle problem.
However, Vasilios Sourlis and Dimitrios Siovas are guaranteed absentees for the home side, with the duo still sidelined through knee and ankle injuries respectively.
Dutch goalkeeper Erwin Mulder was fit enough to be named on the Go Ahead Eagles bench last time out, but Saturday's clash is expected to come too soon.
Twenty-seven-year-old Federico Mattiello is without an appearance since September due to a long-term knee damage, and he is also unavailable for the visitors.
Fortuna Sittard possible starting lineup:
Pandur; Cox, Guth, Navarro, Pinto; Vita, Erdogan, Ferati, Cordoba; Bassett, Yilmaz
Go Ahead Eagles possible starting lineup:
De Lange; Kuipers, Idzes, Amofa, Deijl; Linthorst, Llansana; Willumsson, Adekanye, Edvardsen; Lidberg
We say: Fortuna Sittard 1-1 Go Ahead Eagles
With little to choose between Saturday's opponents, the contest could easily head either way, and both sides will be aiming to secure maximum points. That said, we are backing the teams to cancel each other out, giving rise to a share of the spoils.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
