Fortuna Sittard and Heracles square off on Saturday afternoon looking to secure the win that would pull them clear of any relegation battle.
These two teams currently sit in ninth and 11th place in the Eredivisie table, the latter currently five points clear of the bottom three.
Match preview
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Having recently put together a six-match winless streak that featured five defeats, Fortuna Sittard were becoming increasingly desperate to record another win.
That particularly rang true when facing lowly RKC Waalwijk in their most recent fixture, there being the potential for the 17th-placed side to close the gap on Sittard to six points.
However, in a remarkable finish to the game at the Mandemakers Stadion, Silvester van der Water's 91st-minute leveller was wiped out by a winner from Sittard's Ryan Fosso three minutes later.
Sittard now sit six points clear of the relegation zone and hold a spot in the top half of the standings, albeit still nine points adrift of seventh.
Although Danny Buijs's side have recorded five victories from their 11 home encounters, they have suffered three consecutive defeats om home territory.
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Meanwhile, Heracles have needed to switch their attention from KNVB Beker heartbreak in the semi-finals to try to ensure that they retain their top-flight status.
Heracles had not played a league game for two weeks prior to their last meeting with PEC Zwolle, opponents that they trailed by a solitary point at the time.
Nevertheless, for the second home game in succession, Erwin van de Looi's side posted a 4-2 victory at home, netting three times either side of half time to move clear of the drop zone.
While Heracles have earned four points from their last three away encounters, they have suffered seven defeats in 11 such contests during 2024-25.
Team News
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In what was his first outing of the campaign in the Eredivisie, Kaj Sierhuis delivered an assist in a four-minute cameo to help Sittard beat RKC.
However, the 26-year-old will likely remain on the substitutes' bench for this contest, with it plausible that the same starting lineup be named unless Samuel Bastien returns in midfield.
Edouard Michut would likely lose his place should that change materialise.
Heracles boss Van de Looi may also look at selecting the same starting lineup unless Mario Engels is recalled in a creative role.
Jordy Bruijn, Lorenzo Milani, Robin Mantel, Sava Cestic and Nikolai Laursen have all recently been sidelined through injury.
Fortuna Sittard possible starting lineup:
Branderhorst; Pinto, Ottele, Guth, Dahlhaus; Michut, Fosso; Da Cruz, Halilovic, Peterson; Bullaude
Heracles possible starting lineup:
Keijzer; Wieckhoff, Mirani, Mesik, Rots; Scheperman, Keersmaecker; Talvitte, Bruns, Podgoreanu; Hornkamp
We say: Fortuna Sittard 1-1 Heracles
With both teams heading into this fixture on the back of a win, we are backing each side to go all out for another three maximum points. However, it may eventually come down to a share of the spoils being deemed to be a favourable result in the latter stages.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Darren Plant
