In search of a fourth consecutive league win, high-flying Vitesse welcome an in-form Willem II side to the GelreDome on Sunday.
The visitors are unbeaten in the last four games, and as a result, they have given their chances of survival a huge boost.
Match preview
Fresh off the back of an impressive 2-1 victory over AZ Alkmaar two weeks ago, Vitesse showed great resolve to bounce back from a goal down and claim a 3-1 win over Utrecht.
Thomas Letsch's men went behind to a Gyrano Kerk strike, but a brace from Oussama Darfalou turned the game on its head before Maximilian Wittek put the icing on the cake.
Three league wins on the bounce have put Vitas back in the race for second spot on the log from which they are currently four points behind.
Saturday's hosts have won the last five meetings between the teams including a 3-1 triumph in October's reverse fixture, as well as a 2-0 victory in the second round of the KNVB-Beker two months later.
Since the turn of the year, only Ajax have a better home record than Vitesse, while only PSV Eindhoven have equalled their tally of 32 home points this term.
Willem II claimed their second win in three league games courtesy of a 3-1 triumph over 11th-placed Heerenveen on Saturday.
Zeljko Petrovic's men stormed to a three-goal lead thanks to strikes from Sebastian Holmen, Kwasi Okyere Wriedt and Che Nunnely after which Joey Veerman pulled one back for his side.
The Superkruiken continue to enjoy life under their new manager who has now picked up eight points from the last 12 available.
That run of results has seen them move within a point of safety, and should results elsewhere go their way, they could end this gameweek outside the bottom three.
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Team News
Willem's Dries Saddiki remains out for this one as he steps up his recovery from a muscle tear which he sustained over seven weeks ago.
Joining him on the list of absentees for the visitors is Miquel Nelom, whose season has been prematurely ended with a knee injury.
Freek Heerkens will also miss the game as he remains out with a thigh problem, through which he has missed his side's last nine games.
Vitesse have everybody fit and available for this one, so their manager will enjoy having the luxury of a full squad to pick from.
Following a two-goal haul last time out, Oussama Darfalou is expected to be rewarded with his 14th Eredivisie start of the campaign.
Vitesse possible starting lineup:
Pasveer; Wittek, Rasmussen, Bazoer, Doekhi, Dasa; Tannane, Bero, Bruns; Broja, Darfalou
Willem II possible starting lineup:
Brondeel; Kohn, Peters, Holmen, Owusu; Kohlert, Selahi, Spieringhs, Nunnely; Pavlidis, Okyere Wriedt
We say: Vitesse 2-0 Willem II
Confidence will be high in both camps following the positive results that the sides have had in recent weeks. However, we are backing the home side to keep their good run going at the expense of the visitors by claiming all three points.
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 65.05%. A draw had a probability of 19.7% and a win for Willem II had a probability of 15.24%.
The most likely scoreline for a Vitesse win was 2-0 with a probability of 10.72%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-0 (10.07%) and 2-1 (9.89%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (9.29%), while for a Willem II win it was 0-1 (4.37%). The actual scoreline of 0-0 was predicted with a 4.7% likelihood.
