Aiming to record a first victory of the calendar year, Dutch champions Feyenoord travel to face relegation-threatened Vitesse at GelreDome on Sunday afternoon in the Eredivisie.
The hosts are fighting for their lives at the foot of the table but had reason to cheer in the cup last time out, while the Pride of the South were forced to settle for a point on their return to action following the winter break.
Match preview
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Vitesse extended their unbeaten run to three matches across all competitions on Thursday night, narrowly defeating third-tier outfit AFC thanks to a first-half strike from midfielder Davy Propper, who booked his side's place in the quarter-finals of the KNVB Cup, setting up a last-eight tie next month.
Focusing solely on the Eredivisie, the Arnhem-based club recorded a much-needed point at home to FC Utrecht on their return from the winter break following an embarrassing 5-0 defeat at recently-promoted Almere City on 17 December, leaving them in serious danger at the bottom of the division.
Edward Sturing's men currently occupy 17th position in the Eredivisie standings with just 12 points from 17 league outings to date, meaning they are two points behind 16th-placed RKC Waalwijk and five worse off when compared to SBV Excelsior in the relative safety of 15th.
Finding the net at the GelreDome has been a painstakingly-obvious flaw of Vitesse so far this term, with Sunday's hosts scoring just five goals in eight league matches in front of their own supporters, so it is no surprise that their home record is the poorest in the Eredivisie.
Sturing's side are highly reliant on the forward duo of Marco van Ginkel and Million Manhoef to register goals, with the pair combining for eight of their team's 12 league strikes at the halfway point of the term, with no other players netting more than once in the league to date.
Feyenoord lost further ground on flawless league leaders PSV Eindhoven last Sunday after being forced to share the spoils with NEC at Stadion Feijenoord, with the hosts surrendering a two-goal lead to drop points for only the fifth time in the 2023-24 Eredivisie campaign.
First-half strikes from Javairo Dilrosun and leading marksman Santiago Gimenez had the Pride of the South in a commanding position after 28 minutes of the contest, but counters from Dirk Proper and 10-goal Dane Magnus Mattsson sealed a point on the road for Rogier Meijer's men.
Although Feyenoord have enjoyed a commendable first half of the campaign as they seek to retain their Dutch crown, the perfection of PSV means Sunday's visitors are 11 points from the summit of the Eredivisie standings after 17 matches, with third-placed FC Twente two points behind.
After netting 15 goals in 32 league appearances last term as Arne Slot's men blitzed to the title, Mexico international Gimenez is battling AZ Alkmaar's Evangelos Pavlidis for the division's Golden Boot this time around, with the 22-year-old bagging 19 goals in only 17 contests so far.
Feyenoord's most recent trip to GelreDome in August 2022 kick-started the journey towards only their second Eredivisie title this century, with Patrik Walemark, Danilo, Dilrosun and Lutsharel Geertruida breaching the net of Jeroen Houwen during a 5-2 win in Arnhem.
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Team News
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Vitesse are set to be without the services of their first-choice right-back on Sunday, with Carlens Arcus recovering from an ankle injury sustained in early December.
Fode Fofana has not featured for the Eredivisie strugglers since September because of a knee injury, but the 21-year-old would not have played against his parent club regardless.
Six-time Poland international Kacper Kozlowski is serving a one-game suspension for yellow card accumulation, meaning the hosts will have limited options in wide areas.
Feyenoord have a pair of players away on international duty at the Africa Cup of Nations, with Ramiz Zerrouki and Yankuba Minteh representing Algeria and Gambia respectively.
This month's Asian Cup in Qatar has also taken two stars from Slot's ranks, as Ayase Ueda plays for Japan, while Alireza Jahanbakhsh features for Iran.
Gernot Trauner was replaced after an hour of the draw against NEC, and the Austrian could lose his place at centre-back to Bart Nieuwkoop.
Vitesse possible starting lineup:
Room; Oroz, Isimat-Mirin, Hendriks, Cornelisse; Meulensteen, Domgjoni, Manhoef, Tielemans, Boutrah; Van Ginkel
Feyenoord possible starting lineup:
Bijow; Geertruida, Hancko, Nieuwkoop, Hartman; Wieffer, Timber, Dilrosun, Stengs, Paixao; Gimenez
We say: Vitesse 0-3 Feyenoord
Vitesse have struggled enormously at GelreDome this season, and the hosts will not be confident of earning a result against the champions on Sunday.
Feyenoord have good recent memories of trips to Arnhem and we cannot envisage that changing this weekend, so we are predicting a comfortable win for the visitors.
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