Aiming to record a third straight victory, Feyenoord welcome FC Utrecht to De Kuip on Sunday in round 30 of the 2021-22 Eredivisie season.
Meanwhile, the visitors come into the clash in need of a pick-me-up having failed to win any of their last five league outings.
Match preview
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Feyenoord cruised into the semi-final of the Conference League following a 3-1 win over Slavia Prague on Thursday, which sealed a 6-4 triumph on aggregate.
Cyriel Dessers was the star of the show as he grabbed a brace while Luis Sinisterra also got on the scoresheet to get the job done for Arne Slot's men at the Sinobo Stadium.
De Stadionclub eased past Heracles 4-1 in their last league encounter on April 10 and remain third in the league standings, seven points shy of PSV Eindhoven and a further four behind Ajax.
Awaiting the Rotterdam-based club next is the challenge of an opposing side who have recorded just one victory in the last six meetings between the teams.
However, that win did come back in the most recent encounter back in August, and Sunday's hosts will be looking to exact revenge ahead of their continental commitment against Marseille four days later.
Utrecht had to settle for a share of the spoils in their 1-1 draw against Fortuna Sittard on Sunday at the Stadion Galgenwaard.
Rick Kruys's men took the lead early on through Bart Ramselaar before Zian Flemming restored parity just past the hour mark.
The Domstedelingen currently sit seventh in the Eredivisie table but have now pulled six points clear of Groningen in the race for the last European spot.
Unbeaten in six of their last seven outings on the road, Sunday's visitors have proven themselves to be a tough nut to crack away from home.
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Team News
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Justin Bijlow is yet to recover from a foot injury and the goalkeeper is set to sit out a ninth game on the bounce.
Feyenoord will also be without Philippe Sandler and Jens Toornstra, who are sidelined with thigh and ankle injuries respectively.
Top scorer Guus Til missed his side's last outing due to a minor injury but could return to the starting XI for this one.
Utrecht are still missing Reda Akmum and Django Warmerdam, while Henk Veerman continues to nurse an ankle problem.
Dutch midfielder Bart Ramselaar has scored in four of his last six appearances and will be looking to deliver the goods once again.
Feyenoord possible starting lineup:
Marciano; Malacia, Senesi, Trauner, Pedersen; Kokcu, Aursnes; Sinisterra, Til, Nelson; Dessers
FC Utrecht possible starting lineup:
De Keijzer; Van der Maarel, Van der Hoorn, Janssen, Van der Kust; Maher; Boussaid, Timber, Gustafson, Ramselaar; Douvikas
We say: Feyenoord 2-1 FC Utrecht
Off the back of their recent run of results, Feyenoord will back themselves to emerge triumphant this weekend, and while Utrecht are no pushovers, we expect the home side to carry the day, albeit by only a narrow margin.
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 Feyenoord win with a probability of 54.75%. A win for FC Utrecht had a probability of 23.12% and a draw had a probability of 22.1%.
The most likely scoreline for a Feyenoord win was 2-1 with a probability of 9.8%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-0 (8.63%) and 2-0 (8.31%). The likeliest FC Utrecht win was 1-2 (6.01%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (10.17%). The actual scoreline of 2-1 was predicted with a 9.8% likelihood. Our team at Sports Mole and our data analysis both correctly predicted a 2-1 win for Feyenoord in this match.
