Two sides separated by four points in the middle of the Eredivisie table will square off on Sunday, as Groningen welcome Fortuna Sittard to Euroborg.
The teams have both moved clear of the threat of relegation with recent wins, with the visitors climbing back up to eighth spot and their hosts now sitting 10th.
Match preview
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Groningen return to Euroborg on Sunday aiming to extend an unbeaten streak and their climb towards the Eredivisie's top half, having bounced back from a tough run in recent weeks.
After a seven-match span between December and early February produced just one victory and six points, the Trots van het Noorden sat 15th on 21 points from 21 league outings, just one spot above the relegation places in their first season back in the Dutch top flight.
Dick Lukkien's side have bounced back since, though, firstly recording consecutive wins for the first time since August to move away from the bottom three as they beat NEC and Willem II 2-1 and 3-1 respectively.
Fourth-placed Twente then visited Euroborg at the beginning of March, and the hosts made it three games unbeaten in a creditable 1-1 draw, having led through Thom van Bergen and been pegged back by a Sem Steijn penalty on the stroke of half time.
Having quickly climbed up to 10th place thanks to their improvement, now sitting four points above the relegation playoff place and just two outside of the top half, Groningen will aim to continue their strong run at the weekend and get back to winning ways on home turf.
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That will be no easy task, though, as the visitors arrive in search of a third straight victory in the Dutch top flight.
After enjoying a strong first half to their seventh straight Eredivisie campaign, sitting eighth in early January on 25 points from 17 outings, Fortuna Sittard dropped into the bottom half as they went winless in their next six matches with only a draw against Heerenveen breaking up five defeats.
A trip to RKC Waalwijk then followed in late February, and Danny Buijs's side bounced back with a 2-1 triumph, as Ryan Fosso snatched all three points with the decisive goal in the 94th minute.
Having then returned to ninth spot, Fortunezen most recently hosted Heracles last Saturday and made it back-to-back three-point hauls, as Kristoffer Peterson netted the only goal from the spot after the hour mark.
Now heading into the weekend in eighth place with momentum back on their side, Fortuna Sittard will go in search of a third straight victory and a second away from home when they travel to Euroborg.
Team News
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Groningen could be unchanged from their draw against Twente two weeks ago, with Marvin Peersman, Sven Bouland and Fofin Turay set to remain confined to the treatment room.
Thom van Bergen will continue to lead the line after netting his third goal of the season in that game, while Mats Seuntjens, Luciano Valente and Dave Kwakman will hope to again line up behind the front man despite competition from Thijs Oosting, Jorg Schreuders and Romano Postema.
Elsewhere, Tika de Jonge should again join Stije Resink in the engine room, while Thijmen Blokzijl and Hjalmar Ekdal will continue their partnership in the middle of a back four.
Danny Buijs may also avoid making any changes to his Fortuna Sittard Starting XI after their win last time out, with Mitchell Dijks, Makan Aiko and Shawn Adewoye remaining sidelined by injuries.
Alen Halilovic is a fresh injury concern, though, and if he is not deemed fit to start, Kaj Sierhuis could join Huddersfield Town loanee Bojan Radulovic and joint-top scorer Kristoffer Peterson in attack.
They will have further support from Ezequiel Bullaude, who has also netted seven goals from midfield this term, while Syb van Ottele, Rodrigo Guth and Ryan Fosso should continue in a back three.
Groningen possible starting lineup:
Vaessen; Rente, Ekdal, Blokzijl, Prins; De Jonge, Resink; Seuntjens, Valente, Kwakman; Van Bergen
Fortuna Sittard possible starting lineup:
Branderhorst; Van Ottele, Guth, Fosso; Pinto, Michut, Bullaude, Dahlhaus; Sierhuis, Radulovic, Peterson
We say: Groningen 1-1 Fortuna Sittard
With both sides heading into the weekend with renewed confidence from recent improved runs, we anticipate a tight contest at Euroborg on Sunday and anticipate a share of the spoils.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Sam Varley
