Securing consecutive wins for the first time since September will be the major objective for Heracles as they entertain the challenge of NAC Breda at the Asito Stadium on Saturday.
Breda, meanwhile, will head to Almelo this weekend looking to muster an immediate response to a first defeat in five matches across all competitions last time out.
Match preview
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Despite being far from convincing, Heracles secured safe passage into the next round of this year's KNVB Beker courtesy of a 1-0 triumph over lower league outfit Winterswijk at Sportpark Jaspers on Wednesday evening.
On-loan forward Juho Talvitie grabbed the all-important goal midway through the second period to double his tally for his temporary employers and get the job done for Erwin van de Looi's men.
This came off the back of three straight league defeats against FC Twente, Ajax and Go Ahead Eagles, which had seen the Heraclieden slip to 15th place in the Eredivisie table, just one point clear of the relegation playoff place.
A chance to pull away from relegation danger now awaits Heracles against an opposing outfit who have lost each of the last three editions of this fixture by a combined score of 9-1 since winning back-to-back meetings in 2018.
Nonetheless, Saturday's hosts will need to up the ante at both ends of the pitch if they are to come out on top, as only one team outside the bottom three—Fortuna Sittard—have scored fewer goals than their tally of nine, while only bottom-place RKC Waalwijk have let in more goals.
NAC Breda's quest for a fifth straight victory ended in an embarrassing 2-1 defeat to Tweede Divisie outfit Barendrecht when the teams went head-to-head in Wednesday's KNVB-Beker round-of-64 encounter.
Carl Hoefkens's men recovered from going behind early on to Wouter Vermeer's goal by levelling matters through Lars Mol, only for Brent Vugts to strike in second-half stoppage time and cause a huge upset at Sports Centre de Bongerd.
It remains to be seen how much of an impact Wednesday's defeat will have on Parel van het Zuiden, who had won each of their last three Eredivisie clashes prior, moving up to seventh place in the standings.
While it is still early days, Breda are already a whopping seven points clear of the drop zone and have settled nicely on their return to the top flight after a six-year absence down in the second division.
This has mainly been down to their impressive home form, as Saturday's visitors have managed only one win on the road leading up to this weekend's trip, where they will be seeking to avoid a fifth defeat in six away league matches this term.
Team News
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Sem Scheperman and Nikolai Laursen will not play any part for Heracles here as they continue to nurse respective knee problems, but the latter is nearing a return to action.
Sava-Arangel Cestic also misses out for this weekend's hosts through an ankle problem and is joined on the treatment table by Dutchman Stijn Bultman.
Brian De Keersmaecker is back available to feature once again after missing his side's most recent league outing against FC Twente through a suspension.
Breda's Jan Van den Bergh is set to serve a one-game ban for accumulation of yellow cards having received his fifth caution of the campaign against RKC Waalwijk.
Nineteen-year-old defender Cherrion Valerius is out of contention for the fourth game running through a knee injury he picked up earlier this month.
Heracles possible starting lineup:
De Keijzer; Roosken, Mesik, Mirani, Benita; Van Kaam, De Keersmaecker; Zand, Engels, Podgoreanu; Hornkamp
NAC Breda possible starting lineup:
Bielica; Lucassen, Greiml, Kongolo, Kemper; Balard, Leemans, Oldrup Jensen; Paula, Omarsson, Sauer
We say: Heracles 1-1 NAC Breda
Breda's largely underwhelming form on the road so far means a victory this weekend could just be a tad out of reach.
Nonetheless, we are tipping them to come away with a share of the spoils from what should be a keenly contested affair.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Adepoju Marvellous
