Saturday afternoon in the Eredivisie brings us a crucial match in the relegation scrap, with Willem II playing host to Almere City at Koning Willem II Stadion.
The hosts are currently sat in the sole relegation playoff spot with 24 points, while the visitors are at the bottom of the league standings with 15 points after 26 games.
Match preview
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Willem II would likely have been looking forward to the international break to allow themselves a chance to reset for the remainder of the season, having endured a difficult run of results since the start of the year.
Superkruiken suffered a 1-0 defeat on the road to Go Ahead Eagles in their last match, marking their fourth consecutive defeat in the top flight, while they have not won any of their nine matches since the turn of the calendar (W0 D2 L7).
During their winless run, Peter Maes's side conceded a total of 23 goals - more than half of what they have shipped all season - while only managing to find the net seven times themselves in that period.
The hosts have earned exactly half of their 24 points at home this season (W3 D3 L6), but they are riding a four-match winless run at Koning Willem II Stadion, with each of the last three games ending in defeat.
However, the Tricolores do have the psychological advantage coming into this match, having beaten this opponent 1-0 in the reverse fixture at Yanmar Stadion in October last year.
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Meanwhile, after surviving their first season in the Eredivisie fairly comfortably in 2023-24, Almere City have a mountain to climb over the final stretch of the current campaign if they are to retain their top-flight status.
De Zwarte Schapen are on 15 points, having only managed three wins and six draws, while suffering 17 defeats in 26 games this term, leaving them 10 points from safety with just eight games left to play.
Since arriving in Almere, Jeroen Rijsdijk has overseen one victory in nine league games, but his side is now winless in their last five (W0 D2 L3), with their most recent match ending in a 1-1 draw at home to NAC Breda a couple of weeks ago.
While the visitors' away record is still very poor with just seven points earned from 13 matches this season, five of those points have come in their last five outings - they have only lost to Feyenoord and Twente on the road under their new manager.
Team News
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Willem II will be missing two players through suspension for this match, with defender Runar Thor Sigurgeirsson and forward Jeremy Bokila both crossing the yellow card threshold in the defeat to Go Ahead Eagles
Amine Lachkar suffered a setback in his recovery following groin surgery, which has ruled him out for the foreseeable future, and he will be joined on the sidelines this weekend by Dani Mathieu (knock) and Ringo Meerveld (muscle).
Jochem Ritmeester van de Kamp missed Almere City's last three games with a head injury sustained before their loss to Ajax at the start of the month, but reports suggest that he is closing in on a return to action.
Alex Carbonell has now missed the last seven games with a hamstring issue and is unlikely to feature this week, while Theo Barbet is out with a foot injury, but he did resume first-team training during the international break.
Willem II possible starting lineup:
Didillon; Schouten, Behounek, St. Jago, Tirpan; Bosch, Lambert, Sandra, Kehrer, Doodeman; Vaesen
Almere City possible starting lineup:
Bakker; Akujobi, Visus, Lawrence, Zagaritis; Haye, Tahiri; Hansen, Robinet, Kadile; Brym
We say: Willem II 1-1 Almere City
While both these sides were in poor form leading up to the international break, Almere City have seen an improvement in results since the arrival of Jeroen Rijsdijk, and we feel they will be able to come away from this match with at least a point.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Devesh Jaganath
