Rock-bottom Cambuur host mid-table Go Ahead Eagles in an Eredivisie meeting between two out-of-sorts sides on Sunday.
Cambuur extended their winless sequence to five games with a 2-1 defeat away to AZ Alkmaar last weekend while Go Ahead were held to a 2-2 draw by Emmen.
Match preview
Despite some flashes of positivity, Cambuur fell 2-0 down to AZ on Saturday before Bjorn Johnsen converted a consolation penalty with five minutes to play, and any chance of a fightback was snuffed out by a late red card for Mees Hoedemakers, leaving SCC five points adrift of Emmen in the relegation playoff spot.
Manager Sjors Ultee was brought in during the World Cup break but has only overseen one victory - in fact, Cambuur's largest win of the season was in August against a Fortuna Sittard side still managed by Ultee before he was shown the door.
Cambuur have lost 11 of their 12 home games this season, collecting one solitary win against PSV Eindhoven of all teams back in October.
Since that shocking victory over PSV, who led the league at the time, Cambuur have scored two goals in their subsequent eight home games, losing each and every outing in front of an increasingly despondent fanbase.
All season, Cambuur have scored a league-low 13 goals, but they are creating chances, firing off more shots on target than five Eredivisie clubs, including their upcoming opponents Go Ahead.
SCC have been routinely thwarted by a combination of bad luck and poor finishing - no team in the Eredivisie have underperformed their expected goals by a larger margin than Cambuur this season, scoring 13 goals from a glut of chances that would, more often than not, find the net 25 times.
Go Ahead Eagles lived up to their name on two separate occasions against Emmen last Sunday, taking an early lead through Jay Idzes before top scorer Bobby Adekanye restored his side's advantage after Jeroen Veldmate's first-half penalty.
It was not until the 90th minute that Ole Romeny equalised for Emmen, consigning Go Ahead to yet another late concession - the 11th-placed side have conceded the most stoppage-time goals in the Eredivisie this season.
Rene Hake spent 18 months in charge of Cambuur half a decade ago before joining Go Ahead in the summer, overcoming a ruinous start to the season - Hake lost his first five matches as manager - to steer the Deventer outfit into mid-table.
Go Ahead may have been seconds away from victory against Emmen last weekend, but that draw ended a four-game losing sequence away from home for Hake's side - Go Ahead have taken just 10 points from 11 away matches this season, the exact same record as relegation-bound Cambuur.
Team News
While Hoedemakers serves his suspension for a second yellow card against AZ, Cambuur's midfielders Jamie Jacobs and Robin Maulun are struggling for full match fitness.
Maxim Gullit, son of the legendary Ruud Gullit, is a doubt with a knee injury while the centre-backs Marco Tol and Jhondly van der Meer have recently been sidelined by various niggles and strains.
Cambuur captain Alex Bangura is also expected to sit out a second successive match after watching the loss to AZ from the sidelines.
Go Ahead could also be without their left-sided skipper as Bas Kuipers continues to recover from a dislocated elbow, while the highly-rated young forward Oliver Edvardsen has been nursing a hamstring problem for the past month.
Adekanye nabbed his sixth goal of the season for Go Ahead last Sunday but also collected a suspension-inducing fifth yellow card, reducing the 24-year-old to a watching brief which will likely be shared by injured midfielders Willum Thor Willumsson and Enric Llansana.
Cambuur possible starting lineup:
Ruiter; Schmidt, Smand, Bergsma, Van Wermeskerken; Van Kaam, Paulissen, Foor; Breij, Johnsen, Mahi
Go Ahead Eagles possible starting lineup:
Lange; Deijl, Amofa, Nauber, Oppegard; Fernandes, Idzes, Rommens, Markelo; Lidberg, Stokkers
We say: Cambuur 1-1 Go Ahead Eagles
Go Ahead endured the misfortune in front of goal which has dogged Cambuur's season when these sides last met at the start of October, spurning numerous chances in a 0-0 draw.
Cambuur's unconvincing defensive resolve does not suggest another clean sheet is in the post, but the relegation-scrapping hosts could battle out a point against the poor travellers this Sunday.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Grey Whitebloom
