Aiming to avoid a third league defeat on the bounce, Groningen entertain the challenge of Heerenveen on Sunday in round 26 of the 2022-23 Eredivisie season.
Meanwhile, the away side make the trip to Euroborg in search of what would be only a first victory in five matches across all competitions.
Match preview
Groningen were beaten for the sixth away game running as they suffered a narrow 1-0 defeat against AZ Alkmaar at the AFAS Stadion on Saturday evening.
Dennis van der Ree's men went behind to Jesper Karlsson's fourth-minute opener and that turned out to be the all-important moment in a keenly-contested affair.
As a result, Trots van het Noorden remain 17th in the Eredivisie table, four points adrift of safety as the season enters into its final knockings.
Next on the menu is the task of facing off against an opposing outfit who are unbeaten in all but one of the most recent eight editions of this fixture since 2019.
Off the back of a first home victory in nine matches last time out, Sunday's hosts now set out to record consecutive victories in front of their fans for the first time since July.
Heerenveen suffered yet another defeat on home turf following a 4-2 loss against defending champions Ajax at the Abe Lenstra Stadion on Sunday.
Kees van Wonderen's men found themselves three goals down inside the opening 20 minutes thanks to strikes from Mohammed Kudus, Edson Alvarez and Steven Bergwijn after which Pelle van Amersfoort and Sydney van Hooijdonk found the back of the net either side of Kenneth Taylor's strike to make the scoreline somewhat respectable.
With 31 points picked up from their 25 matches, De Superfriezen sit 10th in the league standings, outside the top half only on goal difference.
Having managed just one clean sheet in nine away outings leading up to Sunday's clash, the visitors will need to shore themselves up at the back to secure a positive outcome in this one.
Team News
Heerenveen's Andries Noppert is set to sit out an 11th straight game due to a hip injury, while Sven van Beek remains down with a torn Achilles.
The away side will also be without the services of Daniel Karlsbakk and Timo Zaal, who are ruled through illness and a muscle injury respectively.
The Swedish duo of Paulos Abraham and Daleho Irandust both miss out for Groningen through injury, but the latter could make his return to action after the international break.
Mads Bech Sorensen continues to battle with a broken hand and the defender is joined on the sidelines by long-term absentee Nordin Musampa.
Groningen possible starting lineup:
Verrips; Willems, Balker, Blokzijl, Van Gelderen; Hove, Duarte, Suslov; Manu, Pepi, Bergen
Heerenveen possible starting lineup:
Mous; Van Ewijk, Bruma, Kohlert, Bochniewicz; Olsson, Al Hajj, Tahiri; Nunnely, Van Amersfoort, Sahraoui
We say: Groningen 0-1 Heerenveen
Both teams have struggled for goals in recent weeks, so we are anticipating a nervy and cagey match. That said, we can also see the visitors just about edging out their hosts to claim all three points come the sound of the full-time whistle.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
