Both NEC and Groningen enter Sunday's clash at the Stadion De Goffert on the back of two consecutive wins in all competitions, but the visitors are struggling more in the Eredivisie, currently sitting 15th.
This weekend's hosts are one point and one place away from the Europa Conference League playoff spots, having won four, drawn two and lost four from their opening 10 games.
Match preview
Last time out, NEC travelled to face fifth-tier side Capelle in the first round of the KNVB Cup, and the Eredivisie outfit came away as comfortable 3-0 winners thanks to a brace from Elayis Tavsan and a 63rd-minute strike from Ole Romeny.
Rogier Meijer's team bounced back from defeat in the league with a 2-1 win over FC Twente last weekend, with the visitors' goals coming from 20-year-old Tavsan and Javier Vet.
That result brought NEC to within one point of Twente, but to win on Sunday the home side will have to claim three victories on the spin, something that they have not managed throughout the season so far.
NEC's form on home soil has also not been their best attribute this campaign, only picking up four points in Nijmegen from a possible 12, while they have collected 10 points on their travels.
All 12 Eredivisie goals for NEC have come from open play this year, suggesting that the side are not that strong from set-pieces; however, Sunday's home team have found the back of the net two more times than their opponents.
Groningen travel to NEC only one point above the relegation playoff spot after winning just twice in the Eredivisie this season, but one of those victories did come last time out in the league.
Cyril Ngonge and Michael de Leeuw were on target for Groningen, who defeated AZ Alkmaar 2-0 at the Hitachi Capital Mobility Stadium, with goalkeeper Peter Leeuwenburgh earning his second clean sheet of the league campaign.
Danny Buijs's side followed that victory up with another win on Wednesday, when they welcomed second-tier team Helmond Sport to Groningen and progressed to the second round of the KNVB Cup with a 4-0 win.
Fortuna Sittard have a game in hand on Groningen meaning that Buijs's side may drop into 16th spot, but with victory on Sunday and if Sittard lose this weekend, then that takes some pressure off Groningen in the early stages of this competition.
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Team News
NEC duo Rens van Eijden and Mathias De Wolf have not featured for the side this season, and they will not play a part this weekend either as they remain doubtful due to injury.
Winger Magnus Mattsson picked up a knee injury at the beginning of this month, and he will not be able to return to action until November.
Ali Akman came into the front three in place of Mikkel Duelund for NEC in their last league outing, and Meijer is expected to name the same front three which helped collect three points against Twente, meaning that Akman will line up alongside Tavsan and Jonathan Okita.
The visitors also have doubtful players ahead of this clash including defenders Radinio Balker and Mike te Wierik, but those absentees will not influence the selection of the backline for the visitors.
Bart van Hintum, Neraysho Kasanwirjo, Wessel Dammers and Damil Dankerlui will start as the back four for Groningen, while Mohamed El Hankouri, Laros Duarte and Tomas Suslov will make up the midfield three.
Ngonge is leading the way on the scoring front for Groningen and he has found the back of the net in his last three Eredivisie appearances, so he will be keen to extend that to a run of four games this weekend.
NEC possible starting lineup:
Branderhorst; Elkarouani, Odenthal, Marquez, Van Rooij; Bruijn, Schone, Barreto; Okita, Akman, Tavsan
Groningen possible starting lineup:
Leeuwenburgh; Van Hintum, Dammers, Kasanwirjo, Dankerlui; Hankouri, Suslov, Duarte; Ngonge, De Leeuw, Larsen
We say: NEC 2-2 Groningen
Both Tavsan and Ngonge are in fine form in front of goal for their respective sides, and those two players could be the key to this encounter being filled with goals for both teams.
Their stats for this season are fairly similar and there is unlikely to be anything to split NEC and Groningen on Sunday, with a draw being a likely outcome.
Top tip
Sammy Wynne
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 NEC win with a probability of 44.85%. A win for Groningen had a probability of 28.64% and a draw had a probability of 26.5%.
The most likely scoreline for a NEC win was 1-0 with a probability of 11.64%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (8.95%) and 2-0 (8.28%). The likeliest Groningen win was 0-1 (8.85%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (12.58%). The actual scoreline of 3-0 was predicted with a 3.9% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that NEC would win this match.
