One of the standout fixtures in the Eredivisie season will take place on Sunday as Vitesse face NEC in the Gelderse Derby.
Vitesse ended a six-game winless run in all competitions with a victory over Rapid Vienna in the Europa Conference League on Thursday, while NEC have lost just once in their previous seven league matches.
Match preview
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Although winless in their last four league contests, Vitesse head into the derby in a buoyant mood after reaching the last 16 of the Europa Conference League with a 2-0 victory in midweek.
Trailing 2-1 after losing in Austria in the first leg, Vitesse knew that only a win would do against Rapid Vienna on Thursday.
Adrian Grbic got his side off to a dream start, scoring the opener within three minutes of the first whistle, before Thomas Letsch's side grabbed their second goal of the evening through Matus Bero in the 19th minute and with Rapid Vienna unable to muster a response, the Dutch side held firm to claim a 3-2 aggregate win.
Friday's last-16 draw set up a glamour tie against Roma, but for now, Vitesse will turn their attention to a massive game against their bitter rivals on Sunday.
Sixth-placed Vitesse have struggled at home in the league this term with only four of their 11 home matches resulting in victory, which will concern Letsch ahead of the derby.
Meanwhile, NEC will be looking to extend their current unbeaten run to four games when they face their arch-rivals on Sunday.
Last weekend, NEC snatched a point in their home contest with Waalwijk after Richard van der Venne had given the visitors an early lead, but with just two minutes left to play, Jonathan Okita struck to salvage a point for the hosts.
That result leaves Rogier Meijer's side in eighth position, with five points separating them from the Europa Conference League playoff places.
Sunday's visitors will head into the derby on the back of a six-game unbeaten away run in all competitions, while they have also collected 21 of their 31 points from their away matches.
NEC have tended to fare better in the first half of away contests in the Eredivisie this term, with 12 of their 17 away goals coming in the first half of matches.
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Team News
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Injury will rule prevent Riechedly Bazoer from featuring in the Vitesse matchday squad, while they also have a couple of suspensions to contend with.
Grbic will miss out after receiving a red card in the 1-1 draw against Utrecht last weekend, while Maximilian Wittek will also serve a one-match suspension due to an accumulation of yellow cards.
After being suspended for Thursday's Europa Conference League match against Rapid Vienna, Lois Openda will return to the starting lineup for the Gelderse Derby.
As for the visitors, Jordy Bruijn is ruled out through injury, while Lasse Schone will serve a one-match suspension due to yellow card accumulation.
Former Vitesse player Wilfried Bony surprised many when he signed for NEC, but he will be unable to face his former side on Sunday due to an injury issue.
Okita scored his fifth league goal of the Eredivisie season last weekend, and he will look to add to that tally when he features in the NEC forward line on Sunday.
Vitesse possible starting lineup:
Houwen; Oroz, Doekhi, Rasmussen; Hajek, Domgjoni, Tronstad, Bero, Dasa; Baden Frederiksen, Openda
NEC possible starting lineup:
Branderhorst; Guth, Marquez, Odenthal; van Rooij, Barreto, Proper, El Karouani; Okita, Mattsson, Tavsan
We say: Vitesse 2-1 NEC
Vitesse will be buoyed by their progression to the last 16 of the Europa Conference League and with a win already under their belts against their rivals this season, we think that the hosts will edge out NEC to claim the bragging rights in the Gelderse Derby.
Top tip
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Vitesse win with a probability of 54.67%. A draw had a probability of 23% and a win for NEC had a probability of 22.32%.
The most likely scoreline for a Vitesse win was 1-0 with a probability of 10.1%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (9.84%) and 2-0 (9.16%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (10.85%), while for a NEC win it was 0-1 (5.99%). The actual scoreline of 4-1 was predicted with a 2.7% likelihood. Our team at Sports Mole and our data analysis both correctly predicted that Vitesse would win this match.
