Round 16 of the 2024-25 Eredivisie season pits Fortuna Sittard against fellow strugglers RKC Waalwijk at the Fortuna Sittard Stadion on Saturday evening.
The home side head into this weekend's clash off the back of consecutive stalemates, while their visitors will be looking to avoid back-to-back losses for the first time since October.
Match preview
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After kicking off proceedings with three losses on the bounce, Fortuna Sittard went unbeaten in their subsequent six matches across all competitions prior to suffering a 3-1 defeat against PEC Zwolle in early November.
Despite running out 3-0 winners, a friendly matchup versus lower-league opposition Oss did little to get Danny Buijs's men back on track following two points from their last three games against FC Twente, Feyenoord and Heracles.
Last time out, the Fortunezen responded superbly to going behind to Luka Kulenovic's opener through strikes from Alessio Da Cruz and Kristoffer Peterson, only for Ruben Roosken to restore parity just shy of the hour mark.
Fortuna's rough patch has seen them drop out of the European places into ninth place in the Eredivisie table, albeit only two points shy of eighth-place Go Ahead Eagles approaching the midway point of the campaign.
Having won both of last season's meetings between the sides, history would suggest a victory for the home side this weekend as Saturday's hosts go in search of a fifth triumph in their last six matches on home turf.
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Waalwijk have endured a torrid start to the season and currently find themselves in need of a remarkable turnaround if they are to avoid dropping down to the second division of Dutch top-flight football.
Henk Fraser's men lost each of their opening eight games to record one of the poorest starts to an Eredivisie campaign before finally getting themselves on the board via a 2-2 stalemate against FC Twente on October 19.
RKC would get their first win shortly afterwards at the expense of Vitesse in the KNVB Beker and Almere City in league action four days apart but have since picked up just two points from their subsequent four matches.
Conceding three goals or more for the sixth time this term already, Waalwijk were a tad unlucky to have come away empty-handed from a five-goal thriller against Feyenoord last time out, with Igor Paixao netting the winner 15 minutes from the end of normal time.
Consequently, Saturday's visitors remain bottom but one in the standings and are already eight points adrift of safety, having amassed just six points from a possible 45 heading into yet another game on the road where they are one of only three teams without a victory so far.
Team News
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Long-term absentee Nouri El Harmazi is still not back in contention for Waalwijk as he continues his battle with a shoulder problem, while Juan Familia-Castillo prepares to miss a fifth straight game through injury.
Goalkeeper Yanick van Osch will not feature for the visitors against his former team this weekend as he is ruled out with a shoulder problem, meaning that Jeroen Houwen is set to continue between the sticks.
Dario Van den Buijs was hauled off with an injury scare less than 40 minutes into the defeat to Feyenoord, making him a doubt to play any part this weekend.
Thirty-four-year-old Ivo Pinto is unavailable for Saturday's contest due to a muscle injury that has seen him miss both of Fortuna's most recent two matches.
The home side will also be without the services of Kaj Sierhuis, who is, however, closing in on making his return to action and season debut from a knee problem.
Fortuna Sittard possible starting lineup:
Branderhorst; Dijks, Guth, Van Ottele, Mitrovic; Rosier, Bastien; Peterson, Bullaude, Halilovic; Da Cruz
RKC Waalwijk possible starting lineup:
Houwen; Van Gelderen, Van Eijma, Lelieveld, Wouters; Van de Loo, Roemeratoe, Oukili; Van der Water, Zawada, Margaret
We say: Fortuna Sittard 2-1 RKC Waalwijk
Neither team has been convincing of late, and consequently, both will fancy their chances of getting something out of Saturday's game.
That said, Waalwijk have been the poorest team away from home in the Eredivisie this term, so we are backing Fortuna to claim a narrow win in the end.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
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