SBV Excelsior will be looking to get back to winning ways in the Eredivisie when they welcome top-flight newcomers Almere City to Van Donge & De Roo Stadion on Sunday afternoon.
The hosts' powers of collecting points tailed off before the season's first international break, while Almere are one of four sides who are yet to pick up a result in the 2023-24 term.
Match preview
Following a 15th-placed finish on their return to the Eredivisie last term, the focus for Excelsior is now on progressing towards the upper echelons of the Dutch game, but there have been some bumps in the road so far this season.
A 4-3 win at NEC coupled with a 2-2 draw at home to Ajax got Sunday's hosts off to a promising start in early August, but a home stalemate with Fortuna Sittard followed by a 3-1 loss at Heracles has dampened the atmosphere slightly in Rotterdam.
Nikolas Agrafiotis scored in the 19th minute at Erve Asito to give Marinus Dijkhuizen's men the lead last time out, but second-half strikes from Bryan Limbombe, Justin Hoogma and Mohamed Sankoh meant Heracles handed Excelsior their maiden loss of the league season.
Imperative to Excelsior's survival in the Dutch top flight in 2022-23 was their impressive form in front of their home faithful, with a remarkable 26 of their 32 Eredivisie points coming from contests at the Van Donge & De Roo Stadion.
With last campaign's joint-top goalscorer Kenzo Goudmijn returning to AZ Alkmaar after his season-long loan, there is more pressure on exciting Moroccan Couhaib Driouech to take on the attacking responsibility for the Red and Blacks.
Almere City are navigating their first-ever season in the Eredivisie, and last term's playoff winners are quickly finding out that life at the elite level of Dutch club football is not all glamorous.
A 4-1 defeat on the opening day of the league campaign at the hands of FC Twente would have given Alex Pastoor's men a taster of the challenge ahead, with the 6-1 drubbing at the home of champions Feyenoord a fortnight later leaving no room for debate - City are in a serious scrap to maintain their top-tier status.
The Black Sheep are currently 17th in the Eredivisie standings, failing to collect any points from their opening quartet of league fixtures, conceding 14 goals in the painful process.
Almere were sensationally close to earning their first point of the season after Joey Jacobs cancelled out Davy van den Berg's opener for PEC Zwolle last weekend, but a 97th-minute winner from Greek forward Apostolos Vellios sent the newly-promoted side into the international break pointless.
City's promotion charge last term was aided by a stellar defensive record, although Pastoor's side did struggle to score freely, with nine second-tier outfits netting more than Almere's 58 goals in the 2022-23 season.
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Team News
Excelsior will be without the services of one of their chief creators for Sunday's clash, with winger Lazaros Lamprou suspended for one match after picking up two yellow cards in the loss at Heracles before the international break.
The former Greece youth international has already provided three assists so far in the Eredivisie and his absence will be felt by the hosts, although the home supporters will be hoping that summer arrival Derensili Sanches Fernandes can step up to the plate this weekend.
Lennard Hartjes is expected to be sidelined until the end of September due to a knee injury, with the Feyenoord loanee only managing to feature in one league match for SBV so far this term.
Almere also have a knee injury in their ranks ahead of a trip to Rotterdam, with attacker Faiz Mattoir yet to feature for the top-flight newcomers this term - the 23-year-old has only played five times for the club since moving from AC Ajaccio in July 2022.
Pastoor is keen to nurture the considerable talent of Norwegian striker Kornelius Hansen as he continues to adapt to life in the Netherlands since making the switch from his homeland in January, however the former Southampton youth player is currently out of action because of a knock.
SBV Excelsior possible starting lineup:
Van Gassel; Horemans, Widell, Nieuwpoort, Zagre; Sandra, Yaakoubi, Baas; Fernandes, Omorowa, Agrafiotis
Almere City possible starting lineup:
Bakker; Royo, Van Bruggen, Barbet, Floranus; Resink, Koopmeiners, Van La Parra, Duijvestijn, Cathline; Robinet
We say: SBV Excelsior 2-1 Almere City
Excelsior have gone off the boil slightly following a decent first two matches, but a home clash with Almere on Sunday afternoon is the perfect opportunity to earn a second maximum of the season.
The Black Sheep look out of place in the Eredivisie judging off their opening four results, although we believe that they will be competitive this weekend in Rotterdam - even if they suffer another loss.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
