In-form Feyenoord travel to the Kras Stadion to face lowly FC Volendam in the Eredivisie on Thursday.
The visitors will look to claim a routine victory after being handed a small glimmer of hope of reviving a title race following PSV Eindhoven's defeat at the weekend.
Match preview
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After PSV had lost on Saturday surprisingly away to NEC Nijmegen, Feyenoord looked like they were going to follow suit with a shock defeat, going 2-0 down at home to Utrecht the next day.
After going in 2-1 down at break, Feyenoord rallied in the second period though, as Utrecht were utterly dominated, failing to register a single shot after the interval, as Arne Slot's men won 4-2.
Paired with PSV's defeat, that closed the gap to seven points and has opened up the very slight possibility that Feyenoord could keep the title race alive late into the season.
Away form has been the main reason how Feyenoord have stayed relatively in touch, as Eindhoven is the only place where they have not won domestically since October.
With a nine-point buffer on Twente in third, Champions League group stage qualification is all but assured with seven games remaining, but continuing to win every week could heap the pressure on PSV.
Volendam look almost certainties for the drop in just their second season back at this level, despite a late fightback against Almere City at the weekend.
Robert Muhren's 93rd-minute equaliser salvaged a point for Volendam, but to have any realistic chances of survival, that is the sort of match they needed to win, with such a challenging fixture up next.
The draw means they are still winless in 11 matches since the turn of the year, taking just four points in that time.
Home form has been utterly abysmal all season as well for Regillio Simons's side, and they are now on an eight-game losing streak here, with defeats in those matches coming by a combined score of 29-4.
Conceding 18 goals in their last four home games alone illustrates why they have, far and away, the poorest defensive record in the Eredivisie, and they enter the midweek set of fixtures seven points off a relegation playoff spot, and eight points from safety.
Team News
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Following his late heroics at the weekend, Muhren is set to come into the starting XI after netting his sixth league goal of the season at Almere.
Calvin Twigt, Xavier Mbuyamba and Joey Antonioli remain on the sidelines though, having all spent significant time out injured recently.
Quilindschy Hartman was forced off with a knee injury inside 30 minutes for Feyenoord at the weekend and is set to miss out here.
Luka Ivanusec was absent after returning from Croatia duty with an Achilles injury, joining Gernot Trauner and goalkeeper Justin Bijlow on the treatment table.
Igor Paixao paid back the faith shown in him by manager Slot, scoring after coming into the starting XI against Utrecht, netting in his third straight game for Feyenoord.
FC Volendam possible starting lineup:
Backhaus; Buur, Benamar, Flint, Cox; Mirani, Le Roux, Maulun; Booth, Muhren, Johnson
Feyenoord possible starting lineup:
Wellenreuther; Geertruida, Beelen, Hancko, Nieuwkoop; Wieffer, Zerrouki, Timber; Minteh, Gimenez, Igor Paixao
We say: FC Volendam 0-4 Feyenoord
Volendam should provide little trouble for Feyenoord given their current plight, and the fact the visitors have won all three meetings since they were promoted in 2022.
The hosts are much weaker at home too, with eight straight defeats here at the Kras Stadion and 18 goals conceded in their last four, so an ugly scoreline could be on the way once more for the relegation favourites, with Feyenoord also very strong on the road.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Andrew Delaney
