Two teams looking to steer clear of relegation danger face off in round 28 of the 2022-23 Eredivisie season as Vitesse welcome Go Ahead Eagles to GelreDome on Saturday.
The hosts head into this weekend's outing without a victory in seven matches, while the visitors have only lost of their most recent five outings.
Match preview
© Reuters
Vitesse suffered a third straight league defeat on the road as they were beaten 1-0 by RKC Waalwijk in the teams' encounter at the Mandemakers Stadion on Saturday.
Michiel Kramer broke the deadlock three minutes shy of the half-hour mark, and that was enough to put Phillip Cocu's men to the sword in a tight affair.
As a result, Geel en Zwart remain 14th in the Eredivisie table but are now outside the relegation zone only by the virtue of their superior goal difference to SBV Excelsior.
On the horizon next is the challenge of an opposing outfit who have come out on top in just one of the last 10 editions of this fixture dating back to 2013.
Currently with the second-worst home record in the entire division, Saturday's hosts will need to turn things around in front of their fans to stand a decent chance of beating the drop.
Go Ahead Eagles picked up arguably their most impressive result of the campaign last time out following a 0-0 draw against Ajax at De Adelaarshorst on Sunday.
Despite boasting less than a third of the ball possession, Rene Hake's men limited the defending champions to only a handful of clear-cut chances over 90 minutes.
With 30 points from their 26 matches to date, the pride of the IJssel Kowet are 12th in the standings, but a defeat this weekend could see them sit just three points clear of the drop zone.
Off the back of a first away win in seven matches in their most recent outing on the road, Saturday's visitors now go in search of consecutive victories on enemy territory for the first time since January.
Team News
Vitesse's Davy Propper has not featured since early February due to a knee problem and the 31-year-old remains unavailable for this weekend.
Defender Maximilian Wittek is now eligible to feature again having fully served his suspension for a sending-off against Sparta Rotterdam.
Mitchell Dijks will also push for a place in the starting lineup here after he recently made his return to action from illness last time out.
Bas Kuipers has fully recovered from an elbow injury and came on as a substitute in the final knockings of Go Ahead Eagles' last outing against Ajax.
Philippe Rommens grabbed a double for the away side in the reverse fixture earlier this campaign, making the Belgian one to keep an eye on.
Vitesse possible starting lineup:
Scherpen; Cornelisse, Isimat-Mirin, Oroz, Flamingo; Kozlowski, Tronstad, Meulensteen, Manhoef; Van Ginkel, Bialek
Go Ahead Eagles possible starting lineup:
De Lange; Deijl, Amofa, Nauber, Oppegard; Willumsson, Idzes, Rommens, Adekanye; Stokkers, Lidberg
We say: Vitesse 2-1 Go Ahead Eagles
Following a decent start to 2023, Vitesse have undergone a rough patch over the last couple of weeks, while Go Ahead Eagles have blown hot and cold since the turn of the year. We expect a fairly even contest with the home side narrowly getting the job done in the end.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
