Round 16 of the 2023-24 Eredivisie season sees Sparta Rotterdam play host to FC Twente at the Sparta Stadion Het Kasteel on Sunday afternoon.
Both teams picked up contrasting results in their last outings, but we are anticipating a keenly-contested affair this weekend nonetheless.
Match preview
FC Twente made it two victories on the spin as they claimed an emphatic 4-2 win over SBV Excelsior 4-2 at De Grolsch Veste on Friday evening.
Joseph Oosting's men found themselves two down to goals from Troy Parrott and Sven Nieuwpoort before a Ricky van Wolfswinkel brace sandwiched in between strikes from Manfred Ugalde and Younes Taha completed a remarkable turnaround.
As a result, the Tukkers remain fourth in the Eredivisie table, a whopping nine points clear of Ajax in the battle for the final guaranteed European spot.
On the menu next is the challenge of an opposing outfit who are without a win in eight consecutive editions of this fixture dating back to 2021.
Unbeaten in all but one of their last seven matches on the road, Sunday's visitors have proven themselves to be a real force to reckon with away from home.
Sparta Rotterdam were on the receiving end of a 2-1 defeat against Ajax when the teams went head-to-head at the Johan Cruyff ArenA on Saturday.
Jeroen Rijsdijk's men conceded first-half goals to Brian Brobbey and Steven Bergwijn before Camiel Neghli halved the deficit 10 minutes into the second period.
With 21 points picked up from 15 matches so far, De Kasteelheren sit seventh in the league standings, and have seen their cushion on the teams outside the European places drop to two points.
Having been beaten in three of their last four matches on home turf, Sunday's hosts will be keen to give their fans reason to cheer come the sound of the final whistle this weekend.
Team News
Sparta Rotterdam's Pelle Clement is currently sidelined with a niggling knee injury which has seen him sit out four matches on the bounce.
Forward Camiel Neghli has found the back of the net in two of his last three matches for the home side, making him one to keep an eye on here.
Mees Hilgers will serve the final of a three-game suspension for receiving his marching orders in Twente's loss to PSV Eindhoven three weeks ago.
Following his double against Excelsior last time out, Ricky van Wolfswinkel could be rewarded with a place in the visitors' starting lineup.
Sparta Rotterdam possible starting lineup:
Olij; Van der Kust, Velthuis, Vriends, Bakari; Kitolano, De Guzman, Verschueren; Brym, Lauritsen, Neghli
FC Twente possible starting lineup:
Unnerstall; Sampsted, Propper, Van Hoorenbeeck, Smal; Steijn, Kjolo, Sadilek; Rots, Ugalde, Regeer
We say: Sparta Rotterdam 1-2 FC Twente
Twente have dominated this fixture to a large degree of late and will back themselves to secure maximum points this weekend. We are tipping the away side to get the job done, albeit by only a narrow margin.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
