RKC Waalwijk and Heerenveen will resume their respective Eredivisie campaigns on Saturday when they go head-to-head at the Mandemakers Stadion.
The sides have made relatively decent starts to the 2022-23 season and will now seek to pick up where they left off before the World Cup break.
Match preview
Heerenveen played out a 1-1 stalemate against SBV Excelsior in their final outing of 2022 at the Van Donge & De Roo Stadion on December 22.
Kees van Wonderen's men opened the scoring through Pelle van Amersfoort in the 24th minute after which Nathan Markelo restored parity on the hour mark.
De Superfriezen now set out to return to winning ways and continue their surge up the Eredivisie table, where they currently occupy eighth position, one place outside the last European spot.
Standing in their way is the challenge of an opposing outfit who are yet to come out on top in the most recent eight meetings between the teams since 2013, losing five of them.
Off the back of three straight competitive victories away from home, Saturday's visitors will back themselves to get the job done on enemy territory once again.
Waalwijk were on the receiving end of a comprehensive 3-0 defeat against Serie A side Roma in a warm-up fixture at the Stadio Olimpico on December 22.
Goals from Tammy Abraham and Stephan El Shaarawy saw Joseph Oosting's men head into the interval on the back foot before Nicolo Zaniolo put the tie to bed just after the restart.
RKC have now won just one of their last nine games and sit 10th in the league standings, albeit outside the top half only on goal difference.
With their seven league games on home turf this term yielding a combined 31 goals, Saturday's hosts will be looking to come out on top in what is set to be another goal-fest in front of their fans.
Team News
Iliass Bel Hassani was given his marching orders just 10 minutes into Waalwijk's last league outing, ruling the midfielder out of Saturday's contest.
RKC will also have to make do with the absence of Dutchman Michiel Kramer, who is set to miss a sixth consecutive match across all competitions.
Mika Biereth recently made his return to action for the hosts against Roma, and he will be pushing for a place in the starting lineup here.
Heerenveen's Amir Ismail is a major injury doubt for this one after the 18-year-old was forced off with a first-half injury last time out.
New arrival Pelle van Amersfoort is set to make his competitive debut for the visitors since joining from Polish outfit MKS Cracovia as a free agent.
RKC Waalwijk possible starting lineup:
Pereira; Lutonda, Nieuwpoort, Van den Buijs, Adewoye, Lelieveld; Vroegh, Anita, Oukili; Clement, Jozefzoon
Heerenveen possible starting lineup:
Noppert; Kohlert, Bochniewicz, Van Beek, Van Ewijk; Al Hajj, Tahiri, Haye; Olsson, Sarr, Van Hooijdonk
We say: RKC Waalwijk 1-1 Heerenveen
There is little to separate the teams heading into this one, and we expect the clash to be keenly-contested. We are also backing a share of the spoils with honours even at the sound of the final whistle.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
