Preview:NAC Breda vs Go Ahead Eagles - prediction, team news, lineups

Back on Eredivisie duty after their cup involvement in midweek, NAC Breda welcome Go Ahead Eagles to the Rat Verlegh Stadion on Saturday evening.

While the hosts saw their winless streak extend last time out, the visitors emerged victorious from their most recent outing and will now go in search of three consecutive wins for the first time in seven months.

Match preview

After rescuing a draw from the jaws of defeat in their 3-3 stalemate against Heerenveen on Friday, NAC Breda entertained the challenge of Heracles in Wednesday's KNVB-Beker opener in need of a lift, but they were comprehensively thrashed 4-1.

In truth, the margin of defeat was a tad harsh on Carl Hoefkens's side, although it was in keeping with their recent slump in form, which has seen them fail to win any of their last five outings.

Defensive lapses have been central to Breda's struggles as they have gone 12 matches across all competitions since their last clean sheet, with only Heracles conceding more goals in the Dutch top flight.

Finishing 15th in the standings, Parel van het Zuiden were involved in a battle for survival for large spells of their return to the Eredivisie last time out and are 14th in the Eredivisie table after 10 matches this term, outside the relegation playoff spot only on goal difference and already flirting with demotion once again.

With seven of their nine points so far coming in home games, Saturday's hosts will need to pick up results in front of their fans more often than not to stand their best chance of beating the drop.

Winless in nine straight encounters with this weekend's opponents, Breda have not fared well in this fixture and have it all to do if they are to secure a first success since March 2015.

Given their run to KNVB-Beker glory last season, Go Ahead Eagles were not involved in the competition's opening round this time, giving them a six-day turnaround ahead of their trip to Breda.

Melvin Boel's men will still be pumped by their Europa League triumph over Aston Villa, which, at the time, snapped a three-game winless streak before they ran out 2-0 winners against Excelsior last time out.

Following a slow start to proceedings that brought about only three points from the first 12 available, the pride of the IJssel Kowet have now picked up 10 points from their subsequent six league games to sit 10th in the Eredivisie table, one point shy of European contention.

Despite their strong record in contests against Breda, Go Ahead Eagles will be wary of their tendency to be caught out early on in games, having let in the opener in six of their last eight affairs.

However, Saturday's visitors have developed a knack for ending games strongly, with five of their 17 league goals coming in the final 15 minutes of matches, and this could come in handy against an opposing outfit who have conceded five of 19 goals during that time span.

NAC Breda Eredivisie form:

NAC Breda form (all competitions):

Go Ahead Eagles Eredivisie form:

Go Ahead Eagles form (all competitions):

Team News

Still awaiting a first outing since joining Breda from Ajaccio, 20-year-old Frenchman Moussa Soumano remains out with a long-term knee problem.

Brahim Ghalidi and Rio Hillen are also set to miss out for the hosts, but Enes Mahmutovic is available to feature once again after returning to action against Heracles.

Defensive duo Gerrit Nauber and Pim Saathof will not play any part for Go Ahead Eagles here, with the latter nursing a knee issue since July.

Victor Edvardsen and Soren Tengstedt are also out of contention, while Jakob Breum and Richonell Margaret are huge doubts after coming off injured against Villa and Excelsior respectively.

NAC Breda possible starting lineup:

Lamprou; Kemper, Kongolo, Greiml, Valerius; Holtby, Balard; Reulen, Sowah, Lucassen; Van Hooijdonk

Go Ahead Eagles possible starting lineup:

De Busser; Deijl, Twigt, Kramer, James; Meulensteen, Rahmouni; Sivertsen, Goudmijn, Suray; Smit

We say: NAC Breda 1-1 Go Ahead Eagles

Given the state of the teams heading into this one, Go Ahead Eagles will feel an away win is on the cards, but they have only managed one league victory on the road since early March.

We are backing a share of the spoils with honours even at the end of the 90 minutes.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.