Winless in six league games, 17th-placed ADO Den Haag head to Sittard-Geleen to take on Fortuna Sittard on Saturday as they look to kickstart their mission to beat the drop.
Unlike their previous two seasons in the top flight, Fortuna are clear of any relegation danger at this stage, and the focus is now on securing their highest finish since they were promoted in 2018.
Match preview
Fortuna picked up their fifth league win of the year with a 2-1 victory over Sparta Rotterdam at the Het Kasteel on Saturday.
That was the second meeting between the sides in the space of a month after they met in mid-January, when Sparta were victorious on that occasion.
The defeat remains one of only three that Saturday's hosts have suffered since the turn of the year, during which they have moved up to 10th in the Eredivisie table.
History leaves little to choose between the sides as the last five meetings have produced two wins apiece, and a stalemate sandwiched in between.
ADO Den Haag played out a score draw for the second game running, holding PSV Eindhoven to a 2-2 deadlock at the Cars Jeans Stadion on Saturday.
Ruud Brood's men have Martin Fraisl to thank after his heroic performance in goal, which included a penalty save from PSV's Philipp Max.
Den Haag are six points from safety at the moment, although they have a game in hand on 15th-placed RKC Waalwijk, against whom they last won when the sides met in January.
After Saturday's visit to Fortuna, De Ooievaars have upcoming games against Willem II and RKC Waalwijk, who are the two teams just ahead of them on the log.
Those matches could be pivotal in determining if they will retain their Eredivisie status, or drop to the Eerste Divisie for the first time in 13 years.
Fortuna Sittard Eredivisie form: WLWWLW
Fortuna Sittard form (all competitions): LLWWLW
ADO Den Haag Eredivisie form: WLLDLD
ADO Den Haag form (all competitions): LLDLDD
Team News
ADO Den Haag will have to deal with the continued absence of Peet Bijen, who pulled up in his side's KNVB-Beker triumph over Sparta Rotterdam in October.
Daryl Janmaat is also ruled out with a knee injury, but he is getting increasingly close to a return to action after five weeks on the sidelines.
Bobby Adekanye recently scored his debut goal for the visitors since arriving in January, and he will be hopeful that it is the first of many more to come.
Sjors Ultee has the luxury of a full squad to pick from with no injury concerns for Saturday's hosts ahead of this one.
Sebastian Polter has been directly involved in eight goals in his last 11 games in all competitions and alongside Zian Flemming, he poses Fortuna's biggest threat to their visitors.
Fortuna Sittard possible starting lineup:
Van Osch; Cox, Tirpan, Angha, Rota; Hansson, Rienstra, Tekie, Semedo; Seuntjens, Flemming
ADO Den Haag possible starting lineup:
Koopman; Familio-Castillo, Kemper, Del Fabro, Van Ewijk; Pinas, Vejinovic, Pinas; Bourard, Kramer, Besuijen
We say: Fortuna Sittard 2-1 ADO Den Haag
Den Haag would have been buoyed by their impressive draw versus PSV last time out, but Fortuna have been significantly better in recent weeks, so we expect the home team to come out on top.
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 Fortuna Sittard win with a probability of 56.18%. A draw had a probability of 22.9% and a win for ADO Den Haag had a probability of 20.93%.
The most likely scoreline for a Fortuna Sittard win was 1-0 with a probability of 10.65%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (9.87%) and 2-0 (9.7%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (10.84%), while for an ADO Den Haag win it was 0-1 (5.96%). The actual scoreline of 2-0 was predicted with a 9.7% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Fortuna Sittard would win this match.
