Two sides who have lost their last three league games meet at the GelreDome on Saturday when Vitesse host VVV-Venlo in a significant game at both ends of the Eredivisie table.
This is the second meeting between the sides in the space of 30 days, after VVV crushed Saturday's hosts 4-1 in last month's reverse fixture.
Match preview
Following a 3-1 defeat away at PSV Eindhoven on Sunday which was their fifth consecutive league game without a win, Vitesse have slipped out of the top four for the first time in a long while.
They led at half time courtesy of Armando Broja's well-taken finish inside the opening five minutes, but their hosts rallied in the second half to secure the victory.
Thomas Letsch's men began the year as Ajax's nearest challengers before a dismal run of one point from a possible 15 put them well off the pace.
Vitas are now 14 points off the top despite having played an extra game, and it is safe to say that their title hopes are now over, leaving qualification for European football as the new target.
However, they are still in the KNVB-Beker, where they will be facing VVV in the semi-final as they go in search of a first major trophy in over three years.
Since that aforementioned win over Vitesse at the Covebo Stadion, Venlo have lost the subsequent three league games by an aggregate score of 10-4.
Their most recent defeat came at the hands of AZ Alkmaar, who cruised to a 4-1 victory after a dominant display in the second half.
Prior to that, Hans de Koning's men were on a five-game unbeaten streak which gave them some breathing space in the race for survival.
They are still relatively comfortable, ahead of 16th-placed Willem II by eight points, but they will be wary of getting sucked back into a relegation scrap.
Saturday's visitors have lost their last two away games at Vitesse, so they will anticipate a tough encounter despite the latter's current form.
Vitesse Eredivisie form: WLDLLL
Vitesse form (all competitions): LDLWLL
VVV-Venlo Eredivisie form: DWWLLL
VVV-Venlo form (all competitions): WWLLWL
Team News
Giorgos Giakoumakis remains the Eredivisie's top scorer with 22 goals, including a four-goal haul when the sides met at the Covebo Stadion.
Guus Hupperts has been sidelined with a knee problem since December, although he has made the bench on a couple of occasions since then.
Tristan Dekker is still a few weeks away from making his return to action as he continues to nurse a muscle tear, and he will miss the game.
Armando Broja's opener at the Philips Stadion was his ninth goal of the season in all competitions, and getting into double figures would be his next objective.
Enrico Hernandez has had his transition to the first team stalled by an ankle injury, but it should not be too long before he returns to action.
Vitesse possible starting lineup:
Pasveer; Wittek, Rasmussen, Bazoer, Doekhi, Dasa; Tannane, Bero, Bruns; Broja, Openda
VVV-Venlo possible starting lineup:
Kirschbaum; Guwara, Da Graca, Gelmi, Pachonik; Linthorst, Donis, Post; Van Crooy, Giakoumakis, John
We say: Vitesse 2-1 VVV-Venlo
Both sides are decent going forward as they have shown in recent games, so we expect both of them to get on the scoresheet in this one. Nonetheless, we are backing Vitesse to put an end to a miserable run, and get their season back on track.
Top tip
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 Vitesse win with a probability of 63.45%. A draw had a probability of 20.1% and a win for VVV-Venlo had a probability of 16.43%.
The most likely scoreline for a Vitesse win was 2-0 with a probability of 10.25%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (9.93%) and 1-0 (9.75%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (9.44%), while for a VVV-Venlo win it was 1-2 (4.57%). The actual scoreline of 4-1 was predicted with a 3.7% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Vitesse would win this match.
