Fortuna Sittard will be hoping that their pre-Christmas revival continues into the new year when they travel to Heerenveen on Sunday.
The visitors had picked up 10 points from a possible 12 heading into the Eredivisie winter break, while their opponents are winless in seven games.
Match preview
Heerenveen's season has been almost the reverse of Fortuna's, as after a flying start, they are now struggling for form and in desperate need of a victory.
De Superfriezen won five of their first seven games and even topped the table after gameweek three but have not picked up three points since the beginning of November.
Before Christmas, they were beaten 3-0 by Feyenoord as Bryan Linssen netted a hat-trick in Rotterdam. As a result, Johnny Jansen's team begin 2021 in eighth position, which still marks an improvement after 10th and 11th place finishes in the last two years but will be considered disappointing after their rapid start.
It is hoped that January can provide them with the opportunity to rediscover their form as they also play lowly RKC and VVV-Venlo and face Emmen in the cup. Heerenveen won the reverse fixture 3-1 back in September and have only lost two of their last 11 matches against Fortuna.
December victories over Willem II, Heracles Almelo and RKC Waalwijk emphatically brought to an end Fortuna's 10-game winless start to the league campaign.
Sjors Ultee's side had to come from behind in their most recent win against Waalwijk, with Lisandro Semedo scoring in the 92nd-minute to make it 2-1.
Having been rooted to the bottom of the Eredivisie table, Fortuna now sit in 13th, four points above the relegation playoff spot. The team's upturn in form has been spearheaded by Sebastian Polter, who has scored in each of his last four games.
However, the visitors are still looking for their first league clean sheet of the season, with only three teams conceding more so far in the Eredivisie, while they have also won just one of their last 29 league games away from home.
Heerenveen Eredivisie form: DDDDLL
Fortuna Sittard Eredivisie form: LLWWDW
Team News
Siem De Jong is expected to make his Heerenveen debut on Sunday after signing for the club in early December; he returns to the Eredivisie after leaving Ajax for FC Cincinnati a year ago.
Goalkeeper Ariel Harush has also arrived to provide competition for Erwin Mulder, while youngster Syb van Ottele has joined from NEC Nijmegen but is not yet ready to play a part.
Jansen has confirmed that two of his players will be absent due to positive coronavirus tests but has not named them.
Mats Seuntjens picked up his fifth yellow card of the season in Fortuna's game against Waalwijk so is suspended for the trip to Abe Lenstra Stadion.
Emil Hansson is expected to come in and replace the winger but that could be Sjors Ultee's only change as he seeks to start where the team left off before Christmas.
Heerenveen possible starting lineup:
Mulder; Floranus, Van Hecke, Bochniewicz, Woudenberg; Kongolo, De Jong, J. Veerman; Nygren, H. Veerman, Van Bergen
Fortuna Sittard possible starting lineup:
Osch; Rota, Angha, Janssen, Cox; Rienstra, Flemming, Tekie; Semedo, Polter, Hansson
We say: Heerenveen 2-1 Fortuna Sittard
Heerenveen will see the new year as a fresh start after their poor end to 2020, and we think that they will claim all three points against a Fortuna side who will be feeling confident off the back of their recent revival but may have lost some momentum because of the winter break.
Top betting tip
Olly Allen
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 Heerenveen win with a probability of 56%. A draw had a probability of 23.1% and a win for Fortuna Sittard had a probability of 20.91%.
The most likely scoreline for a Heerenveen win was 1-0 with a probability of 10.92%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (9.85%) and 2-0 (9.82%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (10.96%), while for a Fortuna Sittard win it was 0-1 (6.1%). The actual scoreline of 1-3 was predicted with a 1.8% likelihood.
