Off the back of contrasting results in their final outings before the international break, FC Utrecht and FC Volendam lock horns on Sunday afternoon.
Having suffered a humiliating 4-0 defeat in the reverse fixture earlier this season, revenge will certainly be on the agenda for the away side ahead of this weekend's trip to Stadion Galgenwaard.
Match preview
Utrecht saw their downward spiral continue last time out following a 2-1 defeat against Go Ahead Eagles when the teams went head-to-head two Saturdays ago.
Michael Silberbauer's men broke the deadlock four minutes shy of the interval through Anastasios Douvikas, but late goals in either half from Oliver Edvardsen and Willum Thor Willumsson turned the game on its head.
While the Domstedelingen remain seventh in the Eredivisie table, their lead over NEC has now been cut to four points in the race for the final Europa Conference League playoff spot.
Lying in store next is the task of facing off against an opposing outfit who are winless in the last nine editions of this fixture across all competitions, losing seven of them.
Currently on a run of three straight defeats on home turf, Sunday's hosts will be keen to get going in front of their fans where they have scored the joint second-fewest goals in the entire division.
FC Volendam came out on top on their own patch for the third game running thanks to a 2-1 victory over Fortuna Sittard at the Kras Stadion on March 17.
Wim Jonk's men edged ahead in the final knockings of the first half through Carel Eiting before doubling their lead through Oskar Buur, after which Tijjani Noslin pulled one back just past the hour mark.
As a result, Het Andere Oranje have moved up to 13th place in the standings with 26 points from as many league outings so far, opening up a five-point lead over the drop zone.
With just one victory in seven away games since the turn of the year, Sunday's visitors have it all to do as they look to secure what would be only a third win on the road all-season long.
Team News
Xavier Mbuyamba and Gaetano Oristanio have served their respective suspensions fully and are both in contention to play a part for Volendam here.
Veteran forward Daryl van Mieghem has found the back of the net four times in his last five appearances for the away side, making him one to keep an eye on.
Utrecht's Calvin Raatsie is still sidelined with an ankle problem which he picked up in a 2-0 defeat against Vitesse back in mid-February.
Can Bozdogan and Django Warmerdam are also unavailable for the hosts due to knee injuries, while Bas Dost is set for another spell out of action with a muscle problem.
Anastasios Douvikas will back himself to deliver the goods for this weekend's hosts once again after netting in each of his last three home outings.
FC Utrecht possible starting lineup:
Barkas; Hendriks, Viergever, Kluivert, Klaiber; Toornstra, Labyad, Boussaid, Van de Streek; Douvikas, Descotte
FC Volendam possible starting lineup:
Stankovic; Buur, Plat, Benamar, Murkin; Mirani, Twigt, Eiting; Van Mieghem, Muhren, Ould Chikh
We say: FC Utrecht 2-1 FC Volendam
Despite struggling for goals on home turf since the start of 2023, Utrecht will back themselves to see off the threat of an away side who boast just one clean sheet on enemy territory this term. We are backing the hosts to get the job done, albeit in slender fashion.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
