Round 16 of the 2023-24 Eredivisie season sees SBV Excelsior entertain the challenge of Go Ahead Eagles at Van Donge & De Roo Stadion on Saturday.
Off the back of respective defeats last time out, both sides will be aiming to get themselves back on track with all three points this weekend.
Match preview
Excelsior came away empty-handed from their meeting against FC Twente, which ended in a disappointing 4-2 defeat at De Grolsch Veste on Friday evening.
Marinus Dijkhuizen's men raced to what looked to be a commanding two-goal lead early on thanks to strikes from Troy Parrott and Sven Nieuwpoort before Manfred Ugalde and Younes Taha netted either side of a Ricky van Wolfswinkel brace to turn the game around.
Consequently, the Kralingers have dropped down to 12th place in the Eredivisie table and are now just three points clear of relegation danger.
Coming up next is the task of facing off against an opposing outfit who have lost only one of the last seven editions of this fixture since 2018.
However, that solitary loss did come in the most recent encounter back in April, when Saturday's hosts claimed a 2-1 win in last season's reverse meeting.
Go Ahead Eagles were on the receiving end of a second consecutive defeat as they lost 2-0 to FC Utrecht in Sunday's encounter at De Adelaarshorst.
Rene Hake's men found themselves 2-0 down by half time following strikes from Victor Jensen and Bart Ramselaar, which proved enough to decide the game.
With 22 points picked up from 15 matches so far, the pride of the IJssel Kowet sit sixth in the standings heading into the midway point of the campaign.
Unbeaten in each of their last four away outings, Saturday's visitors will back themselves to secure another positive result on the road.
Team News
Excelsior's Arthur Zagre is ineligible to feature here as he serves a suspension for receiving his marching orders in the defeat to Twente last time out.
The home side will also be without the services of Lennard Hartjes and Jacky Donkor, who both miss out through respective knee injuries.
Forward Raphael Eyongo continues to nurse a long-term ankle problem, and he is joined on the sidelines by compatriot Kik Pierie.
Twenty-seven-year-old Finn Stokkers is Go Ahead Eagles' only guaranteed absentee for this weekend due to an eye injury he picked up back in April.
Sylla Sow has directly been contributed to four goals in his last five away outings, making him one to keep an eye on for the visitors.
SBV Excelsior possible starting lineup:
Van Gassel; Smeulers, El Yaakoubi, Widell, Nieuwpoort, Horemans; Driouech, Baas, Naujoks, Lamprou; Parrott
Go Ahead Eagles possible starting lineup:
De Lange; Deijl, Amofa, Kramer, Kuipers; Llansana, Rommens; Breum, Willumsson, Edvardsen; Sow
We say: SBV Excelsior 2-2 Go Ahead Eagles
Excelsior have seen their matches produce the fourth-highest number of combined goals, and we are anticipating another goal fest this weekend. That said, we can also see Saturday's opponents cancelling each other out and settling for a point apiece in the end.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Adepoju Marvellous
