Aiming to bounce back from respective defeats last time out, Groningen and Vitesse face off at the Hitachi Capital Mobility Stadium on Wednesday.
The sides are separated by just one point in the Eredivisie table, so both teams have all to play for ahead of this one which should give rise to an absorbing contest.
Match preview
Off the back of two consecutive wins in all competitions heading into the game, Vitesse suffered a second home league defeat in a row on Sunday following a 4-1 loss to FC Twente.
Two goals from Robin Propper either side of a Ricky van Wolfswinkel spot kick saw Thomas Letsch's men trail by three, before Michel Vlap put the final nail in the coffin right on the hour mark, moments before Oussama Darfalou pulled one back for his side.
Vitas are currently in 11th place having picked up only six of 15 points available, which is in stark contrast to last season, where they had already amassed 12 at this same stage.
Their next assignment comes against an opposing side who failed to come out on top in any of last campaign's meetings, playing out a 1-1 draw in the first encounter after which the Arnhem-based club triumphed 1-0 in the reverse fixture.
However, Wednesday's visitors have failed to get going at the attacking end of the pitch so far with only bottom club Zwolle netting fewer than their four across the first five rounds of matches.
Groningen were defeated on the road for the second straight game on Saturday courtesy of a 2-1 loss versus Willem II at the Koning Willem II Stadion.
Kwasi Okyere Wriedt and Dries Saddiki both scored inside the opening 25 minutes to leave Danny Buijs's men with a mountain to climb, but Tomas Suslov restored his side's interest in the game with half an hour left to play.
Since an opening-day win against Cambuur, the Pride of the North have only managed two points from the subsequent four outings, so it is no surprise to see them currently sit 13th on the log.
However, Wednesday's hosts will be going up against the team with the most goals conceded this term which serves up a real opportunity to turn their fortunes around.
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Team News
Danilho Doekhi was given his marching orders for two bookable offences last time out meaning that he is suspended for his side's trip to Groningen.
Vitesse will also be without the services of Croatian defender Dominik Oroz, who continues to self-isolate after testing positive for COVID-19.
Million Manhoef remains ruled out with a knee problem, while Daan Reiziger still awaits his first appearance since July due to a shoulder injury.
Cyril Ngonge received a straight red card in the final knockings of the hosts' defeat to Willem II, and the striker will serve the first of a three-game ban in this one.
Wessel Dammers has missed both of his side's last two matches with an ankle problem and the 26-year-old is not expected to feature once again.
Groningen possible starting lineup:
Leeuwenburgh; Kalley, Kasanwirjo, Van Hintum; El Hankouri, Duarte, Suslov, Joosten; Strand Larsen, De Leeuw, Irandust
Vitesse possible starting lineup:
Schubert; Hajek, Bazoer, Rasmussen; Wittek, Tronstad, Bero, Dasa; Tannane, Openda, Frederiksen
We say: Groningen 1-1 Vitesse
The teams are on a rough patch at the moment but both of them will sense an opportunity to get going by securing all three points against fellow strugglers. We expect an open and exciting game with a share of the spoils come the full-time whistle.
Top tip
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Groningen win with a probability of 35.63%. A win for Vitesse had a probability of 34.93% and a draw had a probability of 29.4%.
The most likely scoreline for a Groningen win was 1-0 with a probability of 12.52%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (7.31%) and 2-0 (6.81%). The likeliest Vitesse win was 0-1 (12.36%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (13.45%). The actual scoreline of 0-1 was predicted with a 12.4% likelihood.
