Second division side NEC welcome Eredivisie outfit VVV-Venlo to the Goffertstadion on Wednesday afternoon, as the two teams look to progress from this KNVB-Beker quarter-final clash.
The hosts are currently challenging for promotion from the Eerste Divisie, while their opponents are battling relegation in the top flight.
Match preview
NEC are currently sitting in sixth position in the Dutch second tier and will be looking to cause another upset in midweek.
Rogier Meiher's men have already seen off an Eredivisie side in the shape of Fortuna Sittard on their run to the last eight of this cup competition.
Two wins and one defeat have followed while on league duty to maintain the positive feeling around the club, although the 2-1 loss to MVV last time out will have been a blow to their momentum.
Eniesee will be underdogs coming into this tie, but they will play with no pressure or fear, and that could just swing the game in their favour.
VVV have been struggling for form of late, losing back-to-back games in recent weeks to get dragged back towards the drop zone.
The cup may come as a welcome distraction for them in that case, and they will be viewing this as a great opportunity to advance to the semi-finals.
Summer signing Georgios Giakoumakis has been in exceptional form all season and will be crucial to his side's chances on Wednesday.
The 26-year-old is the top-flight's leading scorer after bagging 22 goals in his 21 appearances, including six in his last three outings. Stopping him will be pivotal to NEC's chances of a shock victory.
NEC KNVB Beker form: WWW
NEC form (all competitions): WDWWWL
VVV-Venlo KNVB Beker form: WWW
VVV-Venlo form (all competitions): DWWWLL
Team News
NEC will have to cope without the services of long-term absentee Joep van der Sluijs, with the teenage winger yet to recover from knee surgery.
He is joined on the treatment table by Terell Ondaan, who is suffering from a muscle injury, and Mathias De Wolf, after the 18-year-old picked up a knock earlier in the month.
Right-back Tristan Dekker is the only injury concern for Hans de Koning's men - the defender has been sidelined for the last three fixtures.
That means Koning is likely to select a full-strength side in what is a great opportunity to reach the final four.
NEC possible starting lineup:
Alblas; El Karouani, Bukusu, Odenthal, Van Rooij; Bruijn, Barreto, Vet, Okita; Janga, Beekman
VVV-Venlo possible starting lineup:
Kirschbaum; Guwara, Da Graca, Gelmi, Pachonik; Post, C. Donis; A.Donis, Machach, Van Crooy; Giakoumakis
We say: NEC 1-2 VVV-Venlo
This should be an entertaining cup tie between two teams who will fancy their chances at progressing to the semi-finals. However, we think the quality of Giakoumakis will be the difference between the sides as he fires VVV past their second-tier opponents.
Top tip
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 NEC win with a probability of 47.69%. A win for VVV-Venlo had a probability of 29.38% and a draw had a probability of 22.9%.
The most likely scoreline for a NEC win was 2-1 with a probability of 9.31%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-0 (7.48%) and 2-0 (6.76%). The likeliest VVV-Venlo win was 1-2 (7.09%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (10.3%).
