Both facing a quick turnaround after their last Eredivisie outings on Thursday, Go Ahead Eagles and Almere City will square off at De Adelaarshorst on Sunday.
The hosts snatched a point against Ajax in midweek to stay seventh in the Eredivisie table, while their visitors find themselves 12th in a run of five straight draws.
Match preview
Go Ahead Eagles return to De Adelaarshorst on Sunday with the aim of building on a pleasing run of recent results and strengthening their position in the Eredivisie's top half in the final weeks of the campaign.
Following their 11th-placed finish last time around, the Pride of the IJssel have enjoyed a steady improvement this season, currently sitting seventh having collected 41 points, one more than their 2022-23 tally with six games left to play.
Across those games, Rene Hake's side have managed 11 victories while only suffering nine defeats, the most recent of which came consecutively at the hands of PSV Eindhoven and Heracles before the recent international break, and they were able to bounce back on their return last weekend, thrashing Excelsior 3-0 on home turf thanks to goals from Willum Thor Willumsson, Gerrit Nauber and Evert Linthorst.
They then faced a tough trip to Ajax on Thursday, and after looking set to fall to a 1-0 defeat with Anton Gaaei's first-half goal being the difference, they were able to snatch a point as Bas Kuipers popped up with a 92nd-minute leveller in the capital.
Having remained two points clear in seventh place thanks to that pleasing result, while only trailing sixth-placed NEC by two points and the top five by four, Go Ahead Eagles will bid to add to their positive run on Sunday and improve their standing with a three-point haul ahead of the final five matches.
That will be no easy task, though, as the visitors arrive aiming to extend their own five-game unbeaten streak, albeit with all of those being draws.
After enjoying a pleasing first half to the season and moving onto 27 points from 22 outings with a win over PEC Zwolle in mid-February, Almere City have dropped into a lower mid-table position in recent weeks, failing to add another notch to their wins column in the last six attempts.
They firstly suffered a 2-0 defeat at home to second-placed Feyenoord and have since shared the points in five consecutive matches, initially seeing meetings with Heracles, Utrecht and Vitesse end level.
De Zwarte Schapen then hosted strugglers Volendam and were pegged back by a 90th-minute Robert Muhren leveller in a disappointing 1-1 draw, after Adi Nalic looked to have fired them to a 1-0 home victory, before Alex Pastoor's men most recently met RKC Waalwijk on Thursday and again left with a share of the spoils as the contest ended goalless.
Despite their slip down into the bottom half of the division, Almere City do boast a 10-point lead over the bottom three with just six games left to play, and having comfortably sealed their safety in a creditable return to the top flight, they will now bid to end on a high with an improved run starting with a return to winning ways at the weekend.
Team News
Go Ahead Eagles are bound to head into the weekend without key midfielder Philippe Rommens, who has been sidelined by an injury since mid-January after netting four goals and contributing four assists in his first 17 Eredivisie appearances this term.
It is winger Oliver Valaker Edvardsen who leads their scoring charts with eight goals so far this season, and he and Willum Thor Willumsson are bound to continue as part of a supporting trio behind a lone striker in their 4-2-3-1 shape, with Bobby Adekanye likely keeping his place on the right wing.
Thibo Baeten led the line away at Ajax last time out, but Finn Stokkers and Victor Edvardsen will both push to return from the outset up top after settling for substitute appearances.
Almere City remain affected by several injury issues heading into the weekend, including first-choice goalkeeper Nordin Bakker, who is set to remain in the treatment room alongside Stijn Keller, Yann Kitala and Danny Post.
In Bakker's absence, Samuel Sahin-Radlinger will continue to deputise between the sticks, having only allowed two goals in his four full appearances since coming in between the sticks, while Theo Barbet is also a doubt in defence after being withdrawn in the 53rd minute of their meeting with RKC Waalwijk.
If he is unable to feature, Nottingham Forest loanee Loic Mbe Soh could return to the defence from the outset, while at the other end of the pitch, Thomas Robinet is bound to again lead the line having scored nine and assisted two of their 27 Eredivisie goals so far this season.
Go Ahead Eagles possible starting lineup:
De Lange; Deijl, Nauber, Kramer, Kuipers; Llansana, Linthorst; Adekanye, Willumsson, O Edvardsen; V Edvardsen
Almere City possible starting lineup:
Sahin-Radlinger; Jacobs, Van Bruggen, Mbe Soh, Floranus; Akujobi, Koopmeiners, Resink, Cathline; Hansen, Robinet
We say: Go Ahead Eagles 1-0 Almere City
Almere City have certainly shown they are tough to beat this season, particularly in their recent run despite the lack of victories, but travelling to a Go Ahead Eagles side who are gaining in confidence in the top half, we see Alex Pastoor's men falling just short in a low-scoring encounter.
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Sam Varley
