FC Utrecht welcome Feyenoord to the Stadion Galgenwaard on Sunday in search of a third consecutive Eredivisie victory.
Feyenoord have been in good form of late, and they come into the match on a four-game unbeaten run, which is their longest since the turn of the year.
Match preview
© Reuters
Feyenoord were too strong for Fortuna Sittard in a 2-0 home victory on Sunday to end a run of back-to-back stalemates.
The game was deadlocked until five minutes after the restart, when Bryan Linssen put Dick Advocaat's men ahead, before Steven Berghuis doubled that lead in the final knockings of the contest.
De Stadionclub remain in fifth place, five points ahead of Groningen, and the same number of points behind Vitesse in fourth as things stand.
They are set to take on Utrecht at a venue where they have won only one of their last four games with no clean sheets in that time.
However, the hosts have lost each of their last two games on home turf, and that will surely give their visitors a glimmer of hope.
Utrecht claimed a second consecutive win on the road by overcoming ADO Den Haag 4-1 at the Cars Jeans Stadion on Sunday.
The game was effectively decided in the first half as goals from Gyrano Kerk, Joris van Overeem, and Othman Boussaid put the visitors on course for all three points.
Jonas Arweiler pulled one back for Den Haag, but Adam Maher added the icing on the cake with his second strike of the season.
The Domstedelingen are seventh on the log with 43 points and could close the gap on Feyenoord to five points should they manage to secure the win.
The most recent meeting between Sunday's opponents was a 1-1 draw in November's reverse fixture at De Kuip, where wasteful finishing cost Utrecht the win.
- W
- L
- W
- L
- W
- W
- D
- L
- W
- D
- D
- W
Team News
© Reuters
Bart Nieuwkoop suffered a thigh injury on the last day of February, and as a result, he is ruled out of Sunday's game.
Christian Conteh is still struggling with a torn muscle which is expected to keep the German forward out for the fifth consecutive match.
Nicolai Jorgensen sustained an ankle injury just before the international break, and he is yet to return to action since then.
Utrecht's Christopher Mamengi is due to make his comeback later in the month after missing the eight weeks of action due to an ankle injury that he picked up while on duty with the reserve team.
Justin Hoogma will also be unavailable for the home side as he works his way back to full fitness, following his recovery from a knee problem.
FC Utrecht possible starting lineup:
Oelschlagel; Warmerdam, Janssen, Benamar, Ter Avest; Maher, Boussaid, Van Overeem; Ramselaar, Van De Streek, Kerk
Feyenoord possible starting lineup:
Marsman; Geertruida, Spajic, Senesi, Malacia; Toornstra, Kokcu, Teixeira; Berghuis, Bozenik, Linssen
We say: FC Utrecht 2-1 Feyenoord
With qualification for European football on the agenda for the both sides, they have all to play for in this one. Consequently, we expect an end-to-end affair with goals at both ends and in the end, a triumph for the hosts, albeit by a hair's breadth.
Top tip
Adepoju Marvellous
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 FC Utrecht win with a probability of 43.86%. A win for Feyenoord had a probability of 31.18% and a draw had a probability of 25%.
The most likely scoreline for a FC Utrecht win was 1-0 with a probability of 9.32%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (9.09%) and 2-0 (7.2%). The likeliest Feyenoord win was 0-1 (7.63%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (11.77%). The actual scoreline of 1-2 was predicted with a 7.4% likelihood.
