Eredivisie leaders PSV Eindhoven visit the Mandemakers Stadion on Sunday to square up against RKC Waalwijk as the season reaches its midway point.
Meanwhile, the home side are looking to pull further away from relegation danger by picking up a second consecutive victory on home turf.
Match preview
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PSV eased into the next round of the KNVB-Beker courtesy of a 2-0 triumph over Fortuna Sittard at the Philips Stadion on Wednesday.
Goals in either half from Ritsu Doan got the job done for Roger Schmidt's men on home turf.
The Rood-witten claimed top spot in the league in the game preceding that courtesy of a comeback 2-1 victory against NEC as both Ajax and Feyenoord failed to win.
Their next task sees them go up against an opposing side who are yet to come out on top in any of the last five meetings, losing each of the most recent three clashes.
With the two other title contenders going head to head in Rotterdam, Sunday's visitors have a chance to stretch their lead at the top of the standings and will be keen to do exactly that.
Waalwijk recorded their first away victory of the campaign courtesy of a 5-0 demolition of Harkemase Boys in the latest round of the KNVB-Beker.
Finn Stokkers was the star of the show, scoring two goals and setting up another as Joseph Oosting's men simply had too much for their lower-tier opponents.
However, RKC have only won one of their last six league outings and are 14th in the table as things stand, three points clear of danger.
Faced with the challenge of containing the division's second-best attack away from home, Sunday's hosts have it all to do if they are to come away with a positive result.
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Team News
PSV will also be without the services of Mees Kreekels, Davy Propper, Shurandy Sambo and Eran Zahavi, who are all battling knee injuries.
Nineteen-year-old Noni Madueke will also have to watch from the sidelines as he continues to nurse a muscle injury.
Shawn Adewoye is suspended for the home side following his red card in a 2-1 defeat versus Twente on December 12.
Richard van der Venne is ruled through a knee injury, while David Min still awaits his first outing of the campaign.
RKC Waalwijk possible starting lineup:
Vaessen; Pabai, Meulensteen, Van den Buijs; Bakari, Anita, Azhil, Gaari; Stokkers, Odgaard, Bel Hassani
PSV Eindhoven possible starting lineup:
Drommel; Mauro, Boscagli, Ramalho, Teze; Sangare, Van Ginkel, Gotze; Vinicius, Gakpo, Bruma
We say: RKC Waalwijk 0-2 PSV Eindhoven
PSV possess better players in every department and will fancy themselves to come out on top in this one, and while we expect the home side to be no pushovers, we are tipping the away side to get the job done.
Top tip
Adepoju Marvellous
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 PSV Eindhoven win with a probability of 65.48%. A draw had a probability of 19.1% and a win for RKC Waalwijk had a probability of 15.42%.
The most likely scoreline for a PSV Eindhoven win was 0-2 with a probability of 10.03%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-2 (9.84%) and 0-1 (9.03%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (8.86%), while for a RKC Waalwijk win it was 2-1 (4.35%). The actual scoreline of 1-4 was predicted with a 4% likelihood. Our team at Sports Mole and our data analysis both correctly predicted that PSV Eindhoven would win this match.
