Fresh from picking up a long-awaited first league win of the 2024-25 Eredivisie season, RKC Waalwijk will play host to NEC at the Mandemakers Stadion on Saturday.
Like their hosts, the away side were also victorious in their last outing and will head into this weekend's clash looking to pick up where they left off.
Match preview
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Waalwijk sparked a host of wild celebrations at the sound of the full-time whistle on Sunday afternoon when they claimed a routine 2-0 triumph at the expense of Almere City as the teams squared up against each other.
Henk Fraser's men got their noses in front four minutes before half time thanks to Richard van der Venne after which Silvester van der Water put any nerves to rest with a well-taken strike just shy of the hour mark.
While that was only a first league triumph for RKC at the 11th time of asking this term, it was their second in a row across all competitions off the back of a 3-1 win over lower league outfit Vitesse in the KNVB Beker.
Despite securing all three points in their most recent outing, Waalwijk's poor start has already left them with ground to cover in the battle for survival as they remain bottom of the Eredivisie table, five points adrift of safety.
A second straight Eredivisie victory would be a more than welcome boost for Waalwijk ahead of clashes against fellow early relegation candidates Heracles and Heerenveen right after the hiatus for international duty.
Saturday's hosts have let in more goals than any other team in the division so far (28), but a first clean sheet of the season last time out could just be the catalyst for a much-needed defensive turnaround.
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NEC recorded what is inarguably their most impressive victory of the campaign on Sunday as they hit Groningen for six at Stadion de Goffert to make it three wins from four matches across all competitions.
A Koki Ogawa double in the first half set Rogier Meijer's men on their way to all three points after which Sontje Hansen, Vito van Crooy, Sami Ouaissa and Thomas Ouwejan all got in on the act in the second period.
Since managing just one point from a possible 12 between September 14 and October 5, the Eniesee have now picked up six of the last nine points available either side of a 1-0 defeat to Almere City.
As a result, NEC Nijmegen have now moved up to 10th place in the standings, two points behind newly promoted NAC Breda in ninth, but only just four points clear of the drop zone.
Off the back of two straight home matches, Saturday's visitors are back on the road once again and will set out to turn their away fortunes around after losing three straight games by a combined score of 4-0.
Team News
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Nouri El Harmazi remains a guaranteed absentee for RKC Waalwijk due to a long-term shoulder problem which has kept him on the sidelines since the turn of the year.
Michiel Kramer also misses out for the home side through a knee injury, while fellow Dutchman Juan Familia-Castillo is expected to be unavailable after coming off with an injury last time out.
Richard van der Venne was on target in his first start since returning from an injury layoff to take his tally of league goals to three in just four appearances so far.
Midfielder Dirk Proper is set to sit out a sixth game on the bounce for NEC due to a muscle problem he picked up against Feyenoord towards the back end of September.
However, 26-year-old Philippe Sandler is back in contention for this weekend's visitors after making his return to action from a muscle problem against Groningen.
RKC Waalwijk possible starting lineup:
Houwen; Van Gelderen, Van Eijma, Van den Buijs, Wouters; Roemeratoe, Van der Venne, Weidmann; Van der Water, Zawada, Margaret
NEC possible starting lineup:
Roefs; Pereira, Alvarez, Sandler, Verdonk; Hoedemakers, Sano, Gonzalez; Van Crooy, Ogawa, Hansen
We say: RKC Waalwijk 1-1 NEC
Still buoyed by their victory over Almere, Waalwijk will heavily fancy their chances of coming away with maximum points against an opposing outfit who have often been found wanting on enemy territory.
That said, we can see the teams cancelling each other out to settle for a point apiece in the end.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Adepoju Marvellous
