Gameweek 17 of the 2021-22 Eredivisie season sees newcomers Go Ahead Eagles and NEC face off at De Adelaarshorst on Sunday.
The away side are looking to end a five-game winless streak in the league, while the hosts head into the contest having lost just two of their last 13 outings across all competitions.
Match preview
Go Ahead Eagles saw off the threat of Roda to progress into the next round of the Dutch Cup courtesy of a 2-0 win.
A first-half brace from Isac Lidberg got the job done for Kees Van Wonderen's men in Deventer.
The Pride of IJsel Kowet played out a 0-0 draw versus Utrecht in the league match prior and are 10th in the table at the moment, a point off the top half.
Next up is a clash versus an opposing outfit who have only won one of the last six meetings between the sides.
However, neither team has managed to keep a clean sheet in that time and keeping it tight at the back could go a long way in deciding who gets to come out on top this weekend.
NEC ended a five-game losing streak with a 2-1 victory over Cambuur to progress into the next round of the KNVB-Beker.
Ole Romeny and Dirk Proper both netted in the first half to put Rogier Meijer's men in the driving seat before Sam Hendriks halves the deficit in the 57th minute.
The Eniesee are 12th in the Eredivisie table with a seven-point buffer above the relegation zone at the moment.
Sunday's visitors round up for the year with a clash versus Willem II on Wednesday, while their hosts lock horns with PSV Eindhoven the following day.
- W
- D
- L
- W
- L
- D
- W
- L
- W
- L
- D
- W
- W
- D
- D
- L
- L
- L
- D
- D
- L
- L
- L
- W
Team News
NEC will once again have to make do with the absence of defender Rens van Eijden, who continues to nurse a knee injury.
Mathias De Wolf is also not expected to feature for the visitors due to a muscle injury, and he is joined on the sidelines by 19-year-old Joep van Sluijs.
Go Ahead Eagles' Turan Tuzlacik is ruled out through a leg injury, and the 20-year-old will not play any part this weekend.
Marc Cardona is also ruled out through a knee problem, while Gerrit Nauber remains down with an illness.
Go Ahead Eagles possible starting lineup:
Hahn; Deijl, Bakker, Nauber; Lucassen; Brouwers, Idzes, Rommens; Lidberg, Oratmangoen, Berden
NEC possible starting lineup:
Branderhorst; Barreto, Odenthal, Marquez; Van Rooij, Schone, Proper, El Karouani; Tavsan, Bruijn, Mattsson
We say: Go Ahead Eagles 1-1 NEC
The teams have made relatively decent starts to their top-flight campaigns since gaining promotion. We expect a hard-fought battle with honours even at the sound of the full-time whistle.
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 Go Ahead Eagles win with a probability of 48.88%. A win for NEC had a probability of 27.07% and a draw had a probability of 24%.
The most likely scoreline for a Go Ahead Eagles win was 2-1 with a probability of 9.53%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-0 (9.46%) and 2-0 (7.98%). The likeliest NEC win was 1-2 (6.75%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (11.3%). The actual scoreline of 0-2 was predicted with a 4% likelihood.
