Saturday sees two sides in desperate need of a lift meet at the Cars Jeans Stadion, where ADO Den Haag await the visit of Emmen.
The home side put up a good fight against AZ last Saturday, but they eventually fell to a 2-1 defeat, while Emmen were beaten far more comfortably in a 4-1 demolition by second-placed Vitesse.
Match preview
Den Haag and Emmen have both been very poor this season, so it is no surprise that they currently occupy 17th and 18th places respectively in the Eredivisie table ahead of their meeting.
Ruud Brood's men have won only one of their last 13 league games, and only two in total since the beginning of the season.
Alongside Emmen, they have emerged as favourites to be relegated, but they can take solace in the fact that they are still only four points off safety.
A huge upset looked to be on the cards when Michiel Kramer gave De Ooievaars the lead versus AZ two minutes before the hour mark, but Zakaria Aboukhlal had other ideas, coming off the bench to score twice in the final 20 minutes.
Wednesday's 2-1 cup exit to Vitesse could be a blessing in disguise, as Den Haag can now pay full attention on salvaging their league campaign.
Seventeen games into the season, which indicates the midway point, and Emmen are still searching for their first league triumph, with only five points picked up so far from a possible 51.
Like Den Haag, they have also crashed out from the KNVB-Beker, losing out 2-1 to Heerenveen despite being ahead for the majority of the second half.
Saturday's visitors are on course for a return to the Eerste Divisie, after spending consecutive seasons in the top flight since their promotion back in 2018.
Dick Lukkien's men are in dire need of an improved run of results if they are to make up the ground on those around them, and there is no better place to start than against the team right ahead of them.
ADO Den Haag Eredivisie form: DLLWLL
ADO Den Haag form (all competitions): LLWLLL
Emmen Eredivisie form: DDLLLL
Emmen form (all competitions): DLLLLL
Team News
Marko Vejinovic has started all three league games since he was snapped up as a free agent earlier this month, and that is expected to continue after he was rested in midweek.
Bilal Ould-Chikh was handed a rare start in the cup game, but he is likely to drop back to the bench this time around.
Peet Bijen is ruled out for the game, but he is poised to make his return from an ankle injury later this month.
Dick Lukkien has a full squad at his disposal, and he will hope that it translates into a positive result at the sound of the final whistle.
ADO Den Haag possible starting lineup:
Koopmans; Familio-Castillo, Kemper, Del Fabro, Van Ewijk; Goossens, Vejinovic, Pinas; Bourard, Kramer, Besuijen
Emmen possible starting lineup:
Telgenkamp; Cavlan, Bakker, Veendorp, Van Rhijn; Bernadou, Tibbling, Pena; Kolar, Avdijaj, De Leeuw
We say: ADO Den Haag 1-0 Emmen
Emmen have been by far the worst team in the league this season, and Den Haag should be able to nick this one albeit narrowly owing to the fact that they have not been much better either.
Top betting tip
Adepoju Marvellous
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 ADO Den Haag win with a probability of 36.7%. A win for Emmen had a probability of 33.43% and a draw had a probability of 29.9%.
The most likely scoreline for an ADO Den Haag win was 1-0 with a probability of 13.19%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (7.32%) and 2-0 (7.16%). The likeliest Emmen win was 0-1 (12.41%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (13.48%). The actual scoreline of 0-0 was predicted with a 12.2% likelihood.
