Round five of the 2022-23 Eredivisie season concludes with a meeting between Groningen and Vitesse at the Euroborg on Sunday afternoon.
Both teams head into this one off the back of stalemates in their respective last outings, and they will be looking to get back to winning ways.
Match preview
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Vitesse ended a run of three league losses on the bounce courtesy of a comeback 2-2 draw against RKC Waalwijk at the GelreDome on Saturday.
Thomas Letsch's men found themselves two down through strikes from Florian Jozefzoon and Iliass Bel Hassani before Matus Bero and Ryan Flamingo netted to restore parity.
As a result, Geel en Zwart have moved up to 16th place in the Eredivisie table but remain two points adrift of safety after the first four rounds of matches.
Coming up next for the Arnhem-based side is the challenge of an opposing outfit with little to choose between the teams, as the last 14 clashes have yielded six wins apiece.
Having lost four of their previous five away matches leading up to this weekend's encounter, Sunday's visitors will be wary of coming away empty-handed from another outing on the road.
Groningen had to make do with a share of the spoils thanks to a 1-1 draw against NEC Nijmegen when the sides went head-to-head on Friday.
Frank Wormuth's men opened the scoring through Laros Duarte's half an hour into the second period before they were pegged back in the dying embers by Ibrahim Cissoko.
With five points picked up from a possible 12 to date, the Pride of North are ninth in the league table as things stand, just a point adrift of Excelsior in the race for the last European spot.
Following four victories and a draw in their last five games on home turf, Sunday's hosts will be confident of securing yet another positive result on their own patch,
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Team News
Twenty-year-old Nordin Musampa continues to nurse a long-term knee injury which is set to see him continue his wait for a first appearance in a Groningen shirt.
Jan Hoekstra remains without an outing for this weekend's hosts since January due to a shoulder problem, and the goalkeeper is expected to be unavailable for this one.
Vitesse's Markus Schubert is still down with a shoulder injury, while forward Miliano Jonathans is also not fit to play any part due to a muscle problem.
Dutchman Mitchell Dijks will have to wait a little longer for his debut for the away side as he is yet to recuperate from an ankle injury.
Groningen possible starting lineup:
Verrips; Dybvik, Balker, Te Wierik, Kasanwirjo; Abraham, Duarte, Pelupessy, Suslov; Larsen, Ngonge
Vitesse possible starting lineup:
Scherpen; Arcus, Ferro, Meulensteen, Cornelisse, Wittek; Manhoef, Flamingo, Bero; Buitink, Baden Frederiksen
We say: Groningen 1-0 Vitesse
Despite managing to avoid defeat for the first time this term in their most recent involvement, Vitesse have made a poor start to the new season and will head into Sunday's clash on the back foot. We are tipping Groningen to emerge victorious, albeit by only a narrow margin.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
