Gameweek 12 of the 2022-23 Eredivisie season sees Go Ahead Eagles welcome newly-promoted SBV Excelsior to De Adelaarshorst on Saturday evening.
The home side are unbeaten in eight consecutive games heading into this one, while their visitors are seeking a third straight win across all competitions.
Match preview
Go Ahead Eagles played out a share of the spoils for the fourth league game running following a thrilling 3-3 stalemate against NEC Nijmegen at Goffertstadion on Sunday.
Rene Hake's men went behind to Oussama Tannane's opener before turning the contest on its head through strikes from Isac Lidberg, Bobby Adekanye and Oliver Edvardsen, after which Magnus Mattsson and Philippe Sandler netted in the final 12 minutes to restore parity.
The pride of the IJssel Kowet have slipped down to 15th place in the Eredivisie table and are currently just two points ahead of the bottom three.
Next up is the challenge of an opposing side with just two victories in the most recent 11 encounters between the teams dating back to 2015.
After losing each of their first three home games, Saturday's hosts are unbeaten in the subsequent four and will be keen to continue in the same vein.
Excelsior recorded arguably their most impressive win since gaining promotion as they defeated AZ Alkmaar 2-1 at the Van Donge & De Roo Stadion on Sunday.
Marinus Dijkhuizen's men put themselves in the driving seat courtesy of first-half goals from Siebe Horemans and Marouan Azarkan before Yukinari Sugawara pulled one back early in the second half.
With 13 points amassed from 11 matches so far, the Kralingers have moved up to 10th in the league standings, just a point shy of a place in the top half.
Having suffered defeat in four of their last five matches away from home by a combined score of 17-3, Saturday's visitors have work to do at both ends of the pitch to stand any chance of coming away with a positive result this weekend.
Team News
Excelsior's Sven Nieuwpoort is set to miss a seventh match on the bounce since picking up a knee injury against FC Emmen in the second week of September.
Yassine Ayoub is also unavailable for the away side, although the Moroccan is expected to make his comeback from injury in the next seven days or thereabout.
Thirty-three-year-old Erwin Mulder will have to wait a little longer for his Go Ahead Eagles debut as he continues to battle with an arm injury.
The hosts are also unable to call upon Rashaan Fernandes, who was subbed off in the first half of his side's 3-1 KNVB-Beker win over Helmond last Wednesday.
Go Ahead Eagles possible starting lineup:
De Lange; Fontan, Idzes, Amofa, Deijl; Linthorst, Rommens; Edvardsen, Willumsson, Adekanye; Lidberg
SBV Excelsior possible starting lineup:
Van Gassel; Markelo, Seymor, El Yaakoubi, Horemans; Fein, Baas, Goudmijn; Lamprou, Kharchouch, Azarkan
We say: Go Ahead Eagles 2-1 SBV Excelsior
Go Ahead Eagles have the upper hand in recent editions of this fixture, and coupled with the added advantage of playing on home turf, we can see the hosts just about seeing off the threat of the away side en route to a hard-fought triumph.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Adepoju Marvellous
