Preview:NEC vs. Heracles - prediction, team news, lineups

NEC welcome Heracles to the Goffertstadion on Saturday with their sights set on recording a third league victory on the trot.

Meanwhile, Heracles will be looking to exact revenge on this weekend's opponents following a 1-0 defeat in August's reverse fixture.

Match preview

Heracles had to settle for a share of the spoils in their final outing of 2021 on December 22 when they played out a 1-1 draw against Cambuur.

Frank Wormuth's men trailed to Michael Breij's opener just before the hour mark before restoring parity 13 minutes from time thanks to Orestis Kiomourtzoglou.

The Heraclieden currently sit 13th in the Eredivisie table with 18 points from as many outings so far in what has been a largely underwhelming campaign.

Having failed to beat any of the newly-promoted sides, the Almelo-based outfit have it all to do against an opposing outfit who have won each of the most recent meetings between the sides.

Saturday's visitors are also yet to pick up an away victory from eight outings on the road this term and now is as good a time as any to break that duck.

NEC claimed a third consecutive away triumph across all competitions by beating Willem II 2-1 on December 22.

Magnus Mattsson broke the deadlock seven minutes from half time to get the job done for Rogier Meijer's men in Tilburg.

Consequently, the Eniesee have moved up to ninth place in the standings and are now just four points off the Twente in the race for the last European spot.

However, their home form has been disappointing to say the least, with only eight of 25 points coming in home matches, and that is an area Saturday's hosts will be aiming to improve on in the second half of the season.

Team News

Jonathan Okita and Pedro Ruiz remain sidelined and will not feature for NEC this weekend.

The duo are joined on the treatment table by Mathias de Wolf and Edgar Barreto, who continue to nurse ankle and hamstring injuries respectively.

Heracles will make the journey to Nijmegen missing the services of Elias Oubella and Kasper Jakobsen through knee problems.

Rai Vloet has missed the last eight games due to personal reasons, but the 26-year-old could make his return to action in this one.

NEC possible starting lineup:

Branderhorst; Odenthal, Marquez, Guth; Verdonk, Proper, Schone, Van Rooy; Mattsson, Bruijn, Tavsan

Heracles possible starting lineup:

Blaswich; Quagliata, Knoester, Rente, Fadiga; Schoofs, De la Torre, Kiomourtzoglou; Laursen, Basacikoglu, Sierhuis

We say: NEC 2-1 Heracles

Heracles have been in poor form of late, and NEC will be keen to heap more misery on their visitors this weekend. We fancy the home side to come away with all three points in this one.