With little to play for in round 34 of the 2022-23 Eredivisie season, Fortuna Sittard and NEC go head-to-head at the Fortuna Sittard Stadion on Sunday.
Both teams are on a rough patch heading into this weekend's contest and now set out to try to conclude the current campaign on a winning note by securing all three points here.
Match preview
NEC suffered a third defeat on the bounce as they were comprehensively beaten 3-0 by AZ Alkmaar in the sides' encounter at Stadion de Goffert on Sunday.
Rogier Meijer's men had a mountain to climb at half time having gone behind to strikes from Jesper Karlsson and Jordy Clasie after which Karlsson doubled his tally five minutes into the second period.
As a result, the Eniesee remain 11th in the Eredivisie table, still in with a chance of securing a top-half finish heading into the final weekend.
Next up is the challenge of an opposing outfit who boast just two wins from the last 11 meetings between the teams since 2011, losing seven of the other nine clashes.
Having successfully navigated what was expected to be a tough return to Eredivisie, Sunday's visitors will certainly head into next season with plenty of cause for optimism.
Fortuna Sittard were beaten for the fifth time in sixth matches following a 3-0 defeat against SBV Excelsior at Van Donge & De Roo Stadion on Sunday.
Following a relatively uneventful opening 45 minutes, second-half goals from Kik Pierie, Couhaib Driouech and Kenzo Goudmijn put Julio Velazquez's men to the sword.
With 35 points amassed from 33 matches, the Fortunezen sit 13th in the standings but have now successfully confirmed their place in the Dutch top flight due to a five-point buffer over the bottom three.
Off the back of a relatively disappointing campaign, Sunday's hosts will be keen to sign out in style in front of their fans where they have won consecutive games only once this term.
Team News
Mathias de Wolf will not feature in any capacity for NEC this weekend as he is yet to recover from a muscle problem picked up earlier in the campaign.
Calvin Verdonk also misses out for the visiting team through injury, but Robin Roefs could return to the bench after missing the last two months of action.
Twenty-one-year-old Dirk Proper is ineligible to participate here after he received his marching orders for a rash challenge last time out.
Thomas Buitink has sat out Fortuna's most recent two games through a knee problem, which is set to keep him out of this weekend's outing as well.
Directly involved in 13 of his side's 38 goals this term, Turkish striker Burak Yilmaz will surely be a big miss for the hosts due to a groin problem.
Fortuna Sittard possible starting lineup:
Pandur; Cox, Guth, Radic, Pinto; Duarte, Erdogan; Embalo, Cordoba, Noslin; Gladon
NEC possible starting lineup:
Cillessen; Van Rooy, Sandler, Kramer, El Karouani; Bruijn, Tannane, Schone; Musaba, Mattsson, Rosendo
We say: Fortuna Sittard 1-1 NEC
Neither team is on a good run of results heading into this one and the clash could easily swing either way. That said, we are backing a share of the spoils with both sides settling for a point apiece at the end of the 90 minutes.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Adepoju Marvellous
