Arguably the pick of the matches in the Eredivisie this weekend will come from Stadion Feijenoord, where Feyenoord will be playing host to FC Utrecht on Sunday afternoon.
These sides went into the festive break separated by just a single point after the first half of the season, with Utrecht holding the advantage on 36 points and in third place in the standings.
Match preview
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Last season, Feyenoord was the only team in the Eredivisie that managed to challenge PSV for the top spot, but they are unlikely to be part of the title equation this term unless they can find improvement over the second half of the campaign.
While de club aan de Maas have only lost two games this term, five draws in their first 17 matches have seen them fall 10 points behind the league leaders, who also have a much easier fixture this weekend away to PEC Zwolle.
Brian Priske's side lost their final match of last year 3-0 away to the Boeren, bringing an end to a four-match win streak and an unbeaten run that spanned eight games across all competitions dating back to the start of November.
The major concern for the Feyenoord boss from that match would have been how dominant the opposition was, as his side were starved of possession for large periods and only managed two shots on target across the 90.
Thus, a solid start to 2025 will be imperative for the hosts here, and they have performed well at home over the first half of the campaign, winning five and drawing two of their eight matches, while the sole defeat they conceded was against Ajax in October.
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Meanwhile, after finishing each of the last three seasons outside the European qualification spots, Utrecht have been much-improved this term, now on 36 points, just 14 fewer than they posted across the entire last campaign.
However, Utreg did experience a notable dip in form leading up to the festive break, managing just one win in their last five league games, which included a 5-2 defeat at home to Fortuna Sittard on the final matchday of 2024.
Nick Viergever and Yoann Cathline gave Ron Jans's side a 2-1 lead at the hour-mark, but they completely fell apart in the closing stages of the match, conceding four goals in the space of 15 minutes to record their joint-biggest defeat of the season.
Notably, Utrecht were very poor in defence in December, shipping 16 goals in their final five games of the calendar year, four more than they conceded across the first 12 matches of the season.
Still, the visitors will enter this match with confidence owing to their incredible away record this season, as they are the only side in the top flight still unbeaten on the road with six wins and two draws in eight games.
Team News
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Feyenoord will be without the services of their skipper Quinten Timber for the first game of the year after the midfielder, who has been linked with a move to the Premier League this month, was shown his fifth yellow of the season in the defeat to PSV.
The hosts also have two players ruled out through injury in In-beom Hwang (unspecified) and Jordan Lotomba (broken leg), while Gijs Smal, Julian Carranza and Quilindschy Hartman are listed as major doubts.
For the visitors, Nick Viergever was sent off in the dying moments of the defeat against Fortuna Sittard last month, and the defender will have to serve his one-match suspension this weekend.
Noah Ohio only played two games before sustaining a foot injury early in the season, but reports suggest he could return to action in the next few weeks. Matisse Didden is flagged as a minor doubt for this match.
Feyenoord possible starting lineup:
Bijlow; Read, Trauner, Hancko, Bueno; Zerrouki, Milambo, Stengs; Paixao, Gimenez, Moussa
FC Utrecht possible starting lineup:
Barkas; Vesterlund, Van der Hoorn, Horemans, El Karouani; Iqbal, Engwanda; Rodriguez, Jensen, Cathline; Min
We say: Feyenoord 2-1 FC Utrecht
While Utrecht have done their best work on the road this season, they ended 2024 on a downward trajectory, with just one win in their last five matches, and have lost each of their last five against this opponent across all competitions.
Feyenoord have dropped points far too regularly this season, which sees them 10 points off the pace of the league leaders, but we feel they will kickstart the New Year with a victory in this one.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Devesh Jaganath
