Matchday eight of the 2022-23 Eredivisie season sees SBV Excelsior entertain the challenge of FC Utrecht at Van Donge & De Roo Stadion on Sunday.
Having both failed to secure all three points in the respective last outings, the teams set out to get back to winning ways in Rotterdam this weekend.
Match preview
FC Utrecht were denied a third win on the bounce as they had to settle for a share of the spoils in a goalless stalemate against NEC Nijmegen.
Once again, Henk Fraser's men failed to find the breakthrough in front of their fans despite having the lion's share of the ball possession.
Consequently, the Domstedelingen have now dropped down to ninth place in the standings, a point adrift of the last Conference League playoff spot.
Their next task sees them face off against an opposing outfit who are without a victory in the most recent seven encounters between the teams since 2016.
With consecutive matches against AZ Alkmaar and PSV Eindhoven on the horizon, Sunday's visitors will be keen to set the tone with a dominant display in this one.
Excelsior were beaten for the third time in four outings following a 1-0 defeat against Fortuna Sittard at the Fortuna Sittard Stadion on September 17.
Marinus Dijkhuizen's men looked set to come away with a point before Remy Vita struck three minutes from time to decide what was a drab affair.
Having picked up nine points from seven matches so far, the Kralingers currently sit level on points with this weekend's opponents in the Eredivisie standings.
With just one defeat in nine matches in front of their fans since April, Sunday's hosts will back themselves to secure another positive result on home turf.
Team News
Nikolas Agrafiotis is ruled out for Excelsior once again due to a long-term muscle injury which has seen him sit out 12 consecutive matches.
Still yet to find the back of the net in seven league outings this term, forward Couhaib Driouech could be dropped to the bench for this one.
Utrecht's trio of Tommy St Jago, Bart Ramselaar and Reda Akmum are currently battling with knee injuries and will not feature this weekend.
Twenty-one-year-old Ramon Hendriks also misses out for the away side as the Dutchman remains ruled out due to a ruptured cruciate ligament.
Without an appearance since the third week of May, Arthur Zagre is yet to recover from a muscle problem and will miss Sunday's contest as well.
SBV Excelsior possible starting lineup:
Van Gassel; Tjoe, El Yaakoubi, Seymor, Horemans; Ayoub, Fein; Markelo, Goudmijn, Baas; Van Duinen
FC Utrecht possible starting lineup:
Barkas; Ter Avest, Van der Maarel, Sagnan, Van der Kust; Boussaid, Bozdogan, Toornstra, Sylla; Dost, Douvikas
We say: SBV Excelsior 1-2 FC Utrecht
Given their record in this fixture as well as squad quality, Utrecht are huge favourites to secure the points at the end of the 90 minutes here, and we tip them to just about get the job done.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Adepoju Marvellous
