Feyenoord make the trip to Almere City on Sunday aware that only a win will do if they want to stay competitive in the title race.
At a time when the visitors sit in fourth position in the Eredivisie table, the home side are second from bottom.
Match preview
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Although Brian Priske can be relatively satisfied with his start to life as Feyenoord manager, it has quickly become apparent that his side will need to find some consistency to achieve their goals this campaign.
Losing home fixtures to Ajax in the Eredivisie and Red Bull Salzburg in the Champions League have left the Dutch giants requiring improvements going forward.
There is now an eight-point gap between themselves and Eredivisie leaders PSV Eindhoven, only through Ajax upsetting the runaway leaders last weekend.
In the Champions League, Feyenoord have dropped down to 21st place in the standings ahead of a trip to Manchester City after the international break.
The focus in the short term will be seeing off the likes of Almere City and Heerenveen, two teams that sit in 17th and 14th position in the table.
Almere City are enduring a disastrous campaign under Hedwiges Maduro having accumulated just six points from their opening 11 league fixtures.
When you include the 3-0 defeat to Quick Boys in the KNVB Beker, the former Ajax coach is battling to keep his job in the long term.
Last time out, the Black Sheep succumbed 2-0 to bottom-side RKC Waalwijk, allowing their hosts to rejoin the pack in the battle to move away from a relegation scrap.
While Maduro will not necessarily expect his side to overcome Feyenoord on Sunday, he will want to see an improved showing in the final third with Almere City scoring at least five fewer goals than any other team in the division.
Team News
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James Lawrence, Ruben Providence and Alex Carbonell are all pushing for opportunities in the Almere City XI.
Theo Barbet and Anas Tahiri could lose their places in defence and midfield respectively as Maduro looks for ways to instigate a consistent turnaround in fortunes.
Joey Jacobs missed the last game through suspension, but the centre-back is only likely to be named among the replacements at best.
Meanwhile, Anis Hadj Moussa will feel he has done enough to earn a first start of the season on the right flank having scored against Salzburg.
Thomas Beelen and Ramiz Zerrouki are also options to return in defence and midfield with Priske likely to consider rotating his players.
Santiago Gimenez and Ayase Ueda are among those who remain on the sidelines through injury.
Almere City possible starting lineup:
Bakker; Akujobi, Visus, Lawrence, Zagaritis; Haye, Carbonell; Delaurier-Chaubet, Kamp, Kadile; Robinet
Feyenoord possible starting lineup:
Wellenreuther; Lotomba, Beelen, Hancko, Bueno; Moussa, Zerrouki, Timber, Ivanusec; Paixao, Osman
We say: Almere City 0-4 Feyenoord
Even though Feyenoord have lost their way to a certain degree, we have to take into consideration the lack of goals in this Almere City side. With that in mind, it could be one-way traffic for the visitors on Sunday.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Darren Plant
