Gameweek five of the 2024-25 Eredivisie campaign sees NAC Breda and Fortuna Sittard lock horns at the Rat Verlegh Stadion on Saturday evening.
The home side will be looking to bounce back from suffering consecutive defeats, while their visitors make the journey aiming to avoid a second loss on the bounce.
Match preview
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After enduring a rough end to the 2023-24 season, Fortuna Sittard made a dream start to proceedings this term with consecutive victories over Go Ahead Eagles and Almere City by a combined score of 5-0 in the opening two rounds of matches.
However, Danny Buijs's men were sent crashing back down to earth in their most recent league encounter against NEC Nijmegen, where they fell to a comprehensive 3-0 defeat at Stadion de Goffert on August 31.
In a tale of two halves, the Fortunezen were punished for a slow start to the game and could not muster any semblance of a fightback despite being in the ascendancy for the large spells of the second period.
During the international break, Fortuna kept themselves busy with a friendly matchup against lower league side Oss, which ended in a 2-0 triumph thanks to strikes in either half from Makan Aiko and Nathan Kaninda.
With three of their next four outings coming against Ajax, PSV Eindhoven and AZ Alkmaar, Saturday's visitors could really do with all three points ahead of a daunting run of fixtures to come.
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NAC Breda have endured a less than ideal start to the season, having been beaten in three of their four matches—the most recent of which was a 4-0 thrashing against Heerenveen.
An opening-day defeat to Groningen was followed by a shock 2-1 win over Ajax, which looked like a turning point at the time for Carl Hoefkens's men, who have since come away empty-handed from each of their subsequent two outings.
A 2-1 friendly loss to German outfit Schalke 04 last time out means that Parel van het Zuiden have now won only one of their last nine matches heading into this weekend's encounter in front of their fans.
Breda are also without a clean sheet in that time and have conceded 11 league goals so far—the second most of any team in the division behind RKC Waalwijk and Almere City (both on 12).
Unsurprisingly, Saturday's hosts currently sit 15th in the Eredivisie table and have some tightening up to do at the defensive end if they are to enjoy a successful return to the top flight.
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Team News
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Midfielder Fredrik Jensen is still unavailable for Breda due to a muscle problem which has seen him miss each of the last four matches.
While Jensen is expected to return to action relatively sooner, Clint Leemans still faces an extended spell on the sidelines with an Achilles tendon injury.
Nineteen-year-old Lars Mol is eligible to take part this weekend after sitting out the hosts' defeat to Heerenveen last time out through suspension.
Fortuna's Kaj Sierhuis is a guaranteed absentee having not featured since the back end of last season as he continues to battle with a knee problem.
Luuk Koopmans was in goal for the away side during their friendly matchup against Oss, but Mattijs Branderhorst is expected to return between the sticks.
NAC Breda possible starting lineup:
Bielica; Valerius, Greiml, Van den Bergh, Kemper; Balard, Janosek; Lucassen, Garbett, Paula; Omarsson
Fortuna Sittard possible starting lineup:
Branderhorst; Pinto, Adewoye, Guth, Dijks; Rosier, Fosso, Mitrovic; Peterson, Halilovic, Aiko
We say: NAC Breda 1-2 Fortuna Sittard
Breda's defensive struggles have been a major contributor to their woeful form, and we expect that to continue this weekend with Fortuna Sittard emerging victorious come the sound of the final whistle.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
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