Round 13 of the 2022-23 Eredivisie campaign sees Fortuna Sittard face off against newly-promoted Emmen at the Fortuna Sittard Stadion on Saturday.
Both teams could certainly do with a victory here with the hosts winless in four matches, while the away side have picked up just one victory in their last 10 games.
Match preview
Fortuna Sittard fell to a comprehensive 3-1 defeat against Sparta Rotterdam when the teams went head-to-head at the Sparta Stadion Het Kasteel on Saturday.
Julio Velazquez's men broke the deadlock through Tijjani Noslin before two goals from Arno Verschueren either side of Vito van Crooy's strike turned the match around.
As a result, the Fortunezen have dropped down to 12th place in the Eredivisie table and are just four points clear of the bottom three having played a game more.
Coming up next is the challenge of an opposing outfit who have come out on top in just one of the most recent eight meetings between the teams.
Off the back of three consecutive clean sheets on home turf, Saturday's hosts will be aiming to put on another solid defensive display in front of their fans.
Emmen played out a third consecutive share of the spoils on their own patch following a goalless stalemate against Groningen at De Oude Meerdijk on Sunday.
In what was an open and end to end affair, Dick Lukkien's men failed to find the back of the net for only the first time in five outings
across all competitions.
With just seven points amassed from their 12 league matches so far, the Kannibals remain bottom but one in the league standings, four points adrift of safety.
Ahead of a daunting assignment against defending champions Ajax in their last domestic involvement before the World Cup takes centre stage, Saturday's visitors go in search of a much-needed win to help get themselves back on track.
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Team News
Fortuna's Deroy Duarte is yet to make his comeback from a torn muscle which he suffered earlier this month in a 1-1 draw against FC Volendam.
Tijjani Noslin found the back of the net on his return to the starting XI, and the 23-year-old is expected to retain his place in the lineup.
Maikel Kieftenbeld suffered a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament after Emmen's opening game at PSV, and the Dutchman is ruled out until the end of the season.
Jeff Hardeveld is also facing a long spell on the sidelines, although the defender is in line to return to action before his aforementioned teammate.
Fortuna Sittard possible starting lineup:
Pandur; Cox, Siovas, Navarro, Pinto; Ferati, Ozyakup; Cordoba, Seuntjens, Noslin; Yilmaz
Emmen possible starting lineup:
Van der Hart; Burnet, Veldmate, Araujo, Bouchouari; Veendorp, Bernadou; Mendes, Diemers, Romeny; Zivkovic
We say: Fortuna Sittard 1-1 Emmen
Both teams are on a rough patch heading into this one, and that could make for a nervy and cagey affair. We are backing the teams to cancel each other out, giving rise to a stalemate come the sound of the final whistle.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Adepoju Marvellous
