The second of four matches on Saturday afternoon in the Eredivisie will come from Euroborg where Groningen will be playing host to Willem II.
These two were separated by just four points at the top of the Eerste Divisie table last season and both matches between them last term ended level.
Match preview
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After making a very promising start to the season with seven points from their first three matches (W2 D1 L0), Groningen have experienced a major dip in form in the top flight in recent weeks.
Trots van het Noorden returned from the international break and were handed a 5-0 beating by PSV last weekend, with Ricardo Pepi bagging a hat-trick to help the league leaders maintain their five-point buffer over Utrecht in second.
That result left Dick Lukkien's side on 12 points after 13 games, just one point above Sparta Rotterdam, who are currently sat in the relegation playoff spot, but with the bottom half still tightly compact, a win here could propel them as high as 12th place by the end of the weekend.
However, victories have been hard to come by for the hosts recently, as the defeat to PSV marked their seventh loss in their last eight matches, with a win over Sparta Rotterdam earlier this month being the only points they earned during that period.
The major issue for Groningen since the start of October has been their poor attacking output, as they have only managed to score once in their last five matches, but conceded 13 in that time.
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Meanwhile, Willem II have made a steady start to life in the top flight and will be full of confidence after their dramatic comeback from two goals down against NAC Breda last week to salvage a point.
With that, the Tricolores have now taken eight points from their last six league matches (W2 D2 L2), with those two defeats coming against formidable opponents in Ajax and Twente by 1-0 scorelines.
What has been quite impressive is that Peter Maes's side has only conceded 14 goals in 13 games this season, which is fewer than several teams in the top half have shipped, including Go Ahead Eagles (20), Fortuna Sittard (18) and AZ Alkmaar (15).
The visitors have also been tough to beat on the road this term, suffering just two defeats in their six away games, while they have won two of their last three, overcoming Almere City 1-0 and AZ Alkmaar 2-1 either side of that defeat to Ajax.
Team News
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Groningen received a few significant injury boosts during the international break with Brynjolfur Andersen Willumsson and Marvin Peersman both returning to full fitness.
Willumsson made an appearance off the bench in the defeat to PSV last week, and he could be handed a start in this one after Thom van Bergen was withdrawn at the half time break last time out.
The hosts are likely to be without two players for this match due to injury, though, with Tika de Jonge still working his way back to full fitness after an extended period on the sidelines and Fofin Turay flagged as a major doubt.
The visitors, on the other hand, are expected to be missing at least four players for this match, two of which are long-term absentees in Dani Mathieu and Niels van Berkel, who have underwent knee surgeries this year.
Amar Fatah and Valentino Vermeulen have both missed the last three matches due to a groin and muscle injury respectively, and neither are expected to travel with the squad this weekend.
Groningen possible starting lineup:
Vaessen; Bacuna, Rente, Blokzijl, Prins; Valente, Resink, Hove, Mendes; Postema, Willumsson
Willem II possible starting lineup:
Didillon-Hodl; Tirpan, Behounek, St. Jago, Sigurgeirsson; Lambert; Kehrer, Bosch, Meerveld; Vaesen, Sandra
We say: Groningen 0-1 Willem II
Groningen have experienced a major drop-off in recent weeks, losing seven of their last eight matches, while failing to score in four of their last five, including in two of their last three games on their home patch.
Willem II, meanwhile, are gunning a third match unbeaten after a morale-boosting comeback against NAC Breda last week, and we feel they will be able to edge the hosts to a narrow victory in this one.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
