Emmen will be looking to put some space between themselves and the relegation places when they travel to the Goffertstadion on Saturday to take on NEC.
The visitors currently occupy the relegation playoff place in the Eredivisie, while the hosts are in ninth place, seven points adrift of the top seven.
Match preview
NEC Nijmegen have only lost three of their league games so far this term, but their league standing has been hampered by a seven-game run of draws stretching from August to October.
Rogier Meijer's side drew their 10th game of the season last weekend in the Gelderland derby away at Vitesse - arguably not the worst result for NEC considering Oussama Tannane was given his marching orders just 23 minutes in for grabbing Kacper Kozlowski by the throat.
NEC's defence has been solid for the vast majority of the season, having conceded just 17 goals in 16 matches, although they have often had trouble down the other end of the pitch.
Meijer's men have scored 20 goals in the Eredivisie – only Heerenveen have scored fewer in the top half - but they have started to show improved signs in front of goal in their latest matches, defeating RKC Waalwijk 6-1 in their second-most recent home game, as well as recording a 4-0 triumph in the second round of the KNVB-Beker against Almere.
In the wake of lifting the Eerste Divisie title last season, Dick Lukkien's side have only registered two victories throughout a demoralising campaign back in the top flight of Dutch football.
Lukkien will feel his side missed a huge opportunity by not beating Cambuur last weekend, who currently sit rock-bottom of the Eredivisie.
The sides played out a goalless draw at the De Oude Meerdijk - a setting where the Cannibals' home faithful have only seen one league victory.
In pursuit of their first league triumph since the beginning of November, Emmen restarted their Eredivisie campaign with a 2-0 defeat to FC Twente on January 6.
However, prior to the draw with Cambuur, Saturday's visitors returned to the winners' enclosure on January 11 in the second round of the KNVB-Beker, as Miguel Araujo's 94th-minute winner saw Lukkien's side progress to the next phase at the expense of VVV-Venlo.
Team News
Oussama Tannane will be suspended for this clash after his red card against Vitesse, so Jordy Bruijn could come into the starting XI to replace him.
Mathias de Wolf remains absent in midfield, so Lasse Schone is poised to start in the engine room alongside Dirk Proper once again here.
As for the visitors, Maikel Kieftenbeld and Mart Lieder both remain on the treatment table due to long-term injuries, with the latter still yet to feature this season.
Jeff Hardeveld also has not played for Emmen since October as he continues to recover from a cruciate ligament injury, while Richairo Zivkovic has played in every league game this term, so he looks set to retain his place as the lone striker.
NEC possible starting lineup:
Cillessen; Van Rooij, Marquez, Sandler, El Karouani; Schone, Proper; Tavsan, Bruijn, Mattsson; Dimata
Emmen possible starting lineup:
Van der Hart; Burnet, Veldmate, Araujo, Bouchouari; Veendorp, Vlak; Romeny, El Messaoudi, Diemers; Zivkovic
We say: NEC 1-0 Emmen
We expect this game to be a closely-fought contest given the fact that both sides do not tend to score many goals.
However, Emmen have conceded 19 goals in eight matches on their travels this season and have the worst away record in the division, so we are expecting the home side to prevail here.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
