Preview: Groningen vs. Fortuna Sittard - prediction, team news, lineups

A week after suffering disappointing first defeats in the new Eredivisie season, Groningen and Fortuna Sittard face off at Euroborg on Friday, keen to return to winning ways on matchday four.

Dick Lukkien's men were obliterated 5-1 by PSV Eindhoven, while an early sending-off against AZ Alkmaar left Fortuna fighting a losing battle in their eventual 2-0 loss.

Match preview

Although Groningen were expected to lose to the defending Eredivisie champions, De FC's form entering the encounter meant that a closer match-up was tipped.

Trots van het Noorden did make a bright start to the encounter by taking an early ninth-minute lead, but PSV responded with three first-half goals and a further two before the hour to make sure of the points.

Lukkien must now pick up his players after the setback as De FC look to return to winning ways after being brought down to earth following an unblemished opening two gameweeks.

The manager may be pleased to return to the home comforts of Euroborg, where his team have suffered just one defeat in their last six Eredivisie matches — a 3-2 loss against SBV Excelsior — winning four matches during that period.

Nonetheless, three of their wins were close-run things — a pair of 2-1 wins over NEC Nijmegen and FC Utrecht as well as a tight 3-1 success over Ajax — pointing to another tight encounter this weekend regardless of the result.

Indeed, Fortuna are likely to make Friday's match far from straightforward for De FC as they strive to secure repeat wins at Euroborg in 2026 after January's 2-1 triumph.

That outcome is contingent on erasing the events of their 2-0 defeat at the hands of AZ last time out, with FSC's game plan thrown out of the window after Ole Romeny's fifth-minute dismissal.

Danny Buijs's team subsequently managed just four attempts on goal to the Alkmaar outfit's 26, and Fortunezen owed their slender loss to the goalkeeping heroics of Mattijs Branderhorst, who made a staggeringly high nine saves.

Back in league action after that disappointment, the hitherto free-scoring visitors will hope to avoid the same early mishaps this weekend, seeking maximum points to take them above Groningen in fifth — three places above them in the table.

Having won two of the last four meetings and five of the recent seven top-flight contests, Fortuna will hope to draw inspiration from their comeback victory seven months ago to notch back-to-back triumphs.

Groningen Eredivisie form:

Fortuna Sittard Eredivisie form:

Team News

While Marco Rente's back complaint will be assessed before Friday, Tyrique Mercera, Ryan Metu and Malcolm Jeng (Achilles) are likely absent for Groningen.

Despite ending on the losing side, Brynjolfur Darri Willumsson has now scored in all three Eredivisie matchdays, placing him level with Feyenoord's Gjivai Zechiel, Go Ahead Eagles' Soren Tengstedt and Cambuur's Rafik El Arguioui.

Thom van Bergen is following closely behind on two strikes, although his two assists make the 22-year-old De FC's leading goal contributor with four direct involvements.

Fortuna have a slightly lengthier list of injured or suspended players: Romeny is suspended, while Kristoffer Peterson, Ivan Marquez and Sven Simons (hamstring) are out injured.

FSC have had five different goalscorers from matchday one to three, with Feyenoord loanee Shiloh 't Zand, Edouard Michut, Philip Brittijn, Lequincio Zeefuik and Romeny all scoring for Buijs's men.

Groningen possible starting lineup:

Vaessen; Schreuders, Blokzijl, Csinger, Prins; De Jonge, Land; Van der Werff, Van Bergen, Clement; Willumsson

Fortuna Sittard possible starting lineup:

Branderhorst; Wylin, Van Ottele, Hubner, Dahlhaus; Zand, Brittijn, Michut; Pinto, Zeefuik, Descotte

We say: Groningen 1-2 Fortuna Sittard

Despite suffering an early setback against AZ, Fortuna can draw immense confidence from their recent head-to-head dominance and January's triumph in this exact fixture to eke out a narrow victory on Friday.

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