Aiming to end a six-game winless streak across all competitions, Willem II visit the Abe Lenstra Stadion to face off against Heerenveen on Sunday.

Meanwhile, the hosts go in search of a first victory on home turf since September having lost each of their last three home matches.

Match preview

Fred Grim, now in charge of RKC Waalwijk, pictured in 2017 © Reuters

Willem II suffered a third defeat on the bounce following a 3-0 loss to Sparta Rotterdam at the Koning Willem II Stadion two Saturdays ago.

Two first-half goals from Bart Vriends left Fred Grim's men with a mountain to climb, before Emanuel Emegha made sure of the result in the second period.

Having picked up just two of the last 15 points available, the Tricolores have slipped to ninth place in the Eredivisie table as a result.

The Tilburg-based club will be looking to bounce back against an opposing side who have won eight of the last 12 meetings between the sides.

However, Sunday's visitors came out on top in the most recent encounter back in March when they claimed a 3-1 victory.

Heerenveen ended a three-game losing streak in the league with a 1-1 stalemate versus NEC a fortnight ago.

After going behind to Ali Akman's 53rd-minute opener, Johnny Jansen's men hit back through Joey Veerman to leave honours even at Stadion de Goffert.

De Superfriezen are four points and three places behind their next opponents ahead of this weekend's clash.

Sunday's hosts, who currently possess the joint second-worst home record in the division, set out to give their fans reason to cheer come the final whistle.

Heerenveen Eredivisie form:

Heerenveen form (all competitions):

Willem II Eredivisie form:

Willem II form (all competitions):

Team News

Pawel Bochniewicz is ruled out through a knee injury, while first-choice goalkeeper Erwin Mulder remains sidelined with a finger injury.

Joey Veerman has been involved in six of his side's 14 goals this term and the 23-year-old is one to keep an eye on.

Willem II's Wesley Spieringhs and Freek Heerkens are still nursing knee injuries and will not be involved this weekend.

Robbin Ruiter will also sit the game out having not featured since the opening weekend due to a shoulder problem.

Heerenveen possible starting lineup:
Mous; Van Beek, Bakker, Kaib, Van Ewijk; J.Veerman, Halilovic, Kongolo; De Jong, H.Veerman, Musaba

Willem II possible starting lineup:
Wellenreuther; Owusu, Jenssen, Bergstrom, Kohn; Saglam, Saddiki, Llonch; Kohlert, Okyere Wriedt, Nunnely

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We say: Heerenveen 1-1 Willem II

Both teams head into the contest on a rough patch, so we expect a nervy and cagey affair. We are also backing a share of the spoils with teams settling for a point apiece in the end.

Data Analysis

Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Heerenveen win with a probability of 44.84%. A win for Willem II had a probability of 30.19% and a draw had a probability of 25%.

The most likely scoreline for a Heerenveen win was 1-0 with a probability of 9.57%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (9.18%) and 2-0 (7.45%). The likeliest Willem II win was 0-1 (7.58%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (11.79%). The actual scoreline of 2-1 was predicted with a 9.2% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Heerenveen would win this match.