In their final involvement before the World Cup kicks off, NEC and RKC Waalwijk will go head-to-head at the Goffertstadion on Sunday afternoon in matchday 14 of the 2022-23 Eredivisie season.
Both teams returned to winning ways in their most recent outings, and they will be looking to pick up where they left off by securing all three points this weekend.
Match preview
Waalwijk ended a run of four games without a victory courtesy of an impressive 3-1 triumph over AZ Alkmaar at the Mandemakers Stadion on Sunday.
Joseph Oosting's men fell behind to Jesper Karlsson's opener in the ninth minute but went on to restore parity through Iliass Bel Hassani before a second-half brace from Zakaria Bakkali completed a remarkable turnaround.
With 17 points picked up from 13 matches so far, RKC are ninth in the Eredivisie table and continue to pull further away from the drop zone off the back of last season's relegation scare.
Next up is the challenge of an opposing side who have come out on top in just one of the most recent six meetings between the teams across all competitions.
Currently on a run of one win in their last 10 matches on the road since July, Sunday's visitors will need to turn their away fortunes around if they are to build upon what has been a decent start this term.
NEC recorded their first Eredivisie victory since August 14 last Friday thanks to a narrow 1-0 win over SC Cambuur at the Cambuur Stadion.
Lasse Schone opened his account for the campaign with a 44th-minute strike to hand Rogier Meijer's men all three points in what was a fairly even contest.
The Eniesee have now moved up to 10th place in the league table, three points behind this weekend's opponents ahead of the encounter in Nijmegen.
Unbeaten in their last six matches on home turf, Sunday's hosts are certainly no pushovers in front of their fans although they have only managed one win all season long.
Team News
NEC's Mathias de Wolf is still unfit to play any part in this one due to a long-term muscle problem, as the midfielder awaits his first appearance since April.
Twenty-eight-year-old Oussama Tannane has been directly involved in six goals in his last six home outings, making him one to keep an eye on.
Zakaria Bakkali could be rewarded with a place in the Waalwijk starting XI this weekend after coming off the bench to score twice last time out.
Meanwhile, the away side are set to be without Dutchman Michiel Kramer, who is struggling with a niggling injury which has seen him miss each of the last two games.
NEC possible starting lineup:
Cillessen; El Karouani, Sandler, Marquez, Van Rooy; Schone, Tannane, Proper; Cissoko, Dimata, Mattsson
RKC Waalwijk possible starting lineup:
Vaessen; Lelieveld, Gaari, Adewoye, Van den Buijs, Lutonda; Oukili, Anita, Clement; Bel Hassani, Bakkali
We say: NEC 1-1 RKC Waalwijk
There is little separating the teams ahead of this one and the game could easily swing either way. We expect a closely-contested affair with honours even come the sound of the final whistle.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Adepoju Marvellous
