In search of a third consecutive league win, high-flying Feyenoord welcome newcomers NEC to De Kuip on Saturday in matchday seven of the 2021-22 Eredivisie campaign.
On the other hand, the away side make the journey looking a end a barren run of three games without a victory since picking up back to back triumphs in the final week of August.
Match preview
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Fresh off the back of an impressive 4-0 rout of PSV Eindhoven on Sunday, Feyenoord dispatched Heerenveen 3-1 on Wednesday to maintain their 100% home record.
Guus Til opened the scoring in the 12th minute to give Arne Slot's men a lead which was doubled on the hour mark by Bryan Linssen, before Joey Veerman pulled one back for his side, only for Til to put the result beyond doubt with his second of the contest.
De Stadionclub have now moved into fourth position on the standings, four points adrift of current leaders Ajax having played one game fewer.
The Rotterdam-based outfit will fancy themselves to continue their surge up the table when they take on an opposing side who they have beaten in eight of the last 10 meetings.
With a tricky Conference League tie against Slavia Prague to follow on Thursday, Saturday's hosts know that securing all three points this weekend would give a huge confidence boost ahead of their European commitment.
NEC were beaten for the first time since the opening weekend on Wednesday as they suffered a 3-0 defeat versus FC Utrecht at Stadion de Goffert.
Two goals from Bart Ramselaar either side of an Anastasios Douvikas strike saw Rogier Meijer's men come away empty-handed for all their industry and endeavour on the day.
Having amassed just two of the last nine points available, The Eniesee have dropped into the bottom half of the log and are in need of a pick-me-up.
Saturday's visitors have scored the second-fewest number of goals this term and will need to get going at the attacking end to turn things around.
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Team News
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Reiss Nelson still awaits his first appearance for the hosts since joining on loan from Arsenal as he remains sidelined with a groin injury.
Mark Diemers is yet to fully recuperate from a knee injury which he sustained in July and is also unavailable for this weekend's match.
Bryan Linssen has netted in each of his last three outings on home turf across all competitions, making him one to keep an eye on this weekend.
Veteran defender Rens van Eijden misses out for the 11th game on the spin ruled out due to a knee problem, while Dirk Proper is ruled out through a knock.
Feyenoord possible starting lineup:
Bijlow; Malacia, Senesi, Trauner, Pedersen; Kokcu, Til, Toornstra; Sinisterra, Jahanbakhsh, Linssen
NEC possible starting lineup:
Branderhorst; El Karouani, Odenthal, Marquez, Van Rooij; Schone, Proper, Duelund; Akman, Bruijn, Okita
We say: Feyenoord 3-0 NEC
Feyenoord seem to have weathered the storm following a rough start to the season and are now playing at the level we have come to expect. We are backing them to see off the threat of NEC and claim all three points in style.
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 Feyenoord win with a probability of 71.48%. A draw had a probability of 17.2% and a win for NEC had a probability of 11.33%.
The most likely scoreline for a Feyenoord win was 2-0 with a probability of 11.67%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-0 (9.97%) and 2-1 (9.52%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (8.13%), while for a NEC win it was 0-1 (3.47%). The actual scoreline of 5-3 was predicted with a 0.2% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Feyenoord would win this match.
