Seeking to climb out of the Eredivisie relegation zone, FC Volendam make the trip to the Stadion Woudestein to face SBV Excelsior on Friday evening.
The hosts have won four of their five top-flight matches on home soil so far this season, while the visitors are looking to secure back-to-back away victories.
Match preview
Excelsior began the New Year in positive fashion with a hard-fought 1-0 home win over Groningen, but they have since suffered back-to-back defeats against AZ Alkmaar and Sparta Rotterdam.
The Red-Blacks were on the wrong end of a 4-1 scoreline at home to AZ in the second round of the KNVB Beker, before losing 1-0 away at Sparta in the league on Saturday courtesy of a 90th-minute winner from Joshua Kitolano.
Marinus Dijkhuizen's side – who were promoted to the Eredivisie last season after three years in the second tier – have now lost 10 times in the top flight so far this term and have subsequently slipped to 13th in the table, four points above the relegation zone.
Excelsior have fared much better on home soil so far this season, accumulating 12 of their 16 points at the Stadion Woudestein. Indeed, nine of these points have been picked up in their last five home league matches and Dijkhuizen will be hoping for another strong showing from his side in front of their own supporters on Friday.
However, the Red-Blacks have failed to win each of their last four home meetings against Volendam, who head to Rotterdam in high spirits after winning two of their opening three games in 2023.
After ending 2022 with four successive defeats, the Other Oranje kick-started the New Year with a comfortable 3-0 away victory over basement club Cambuur before losing 2-0 to Heerenveen in the KNVB Beker.
Wim Jonk's men returned to winning ways on Saturday, though, as they came from behind to beat RKC Waalwijk 2-1 in the Eredivisie. Mats Seuntjens had given Waalwijk the lead just after the hour mark, but goals from Xavier Mbuyamba and Florent Da Silva turned the game on its head to help the Other Oranje claim maximum points for just the third time this season.
Volendam are now level on points with both FC Emmen and Groningen – the latter sitting just outside the Eredivisie relegation zone – and securing at least a point on Friday would be enough for Jonk's side to climb out of the bottom three.
If they are to come away with a positive result, improvements must be made in defence as they have conceded a league-high 40 goals after just 16 games and have kept only two clean sheets all season.
Team News
Excelsior midfielder Yassin Ayoub and forward Jacky Donkor has not featured since November due to injury and are expected to miss out again on Friday.
Dijkhuizen is unlikely to make too many changes, if any, to his starting lineup, with Marouan Azarkan, Kenzo Goudmijn and Couhaib Driouech all set to support Reda Kharchouch in attack.
Julian Baas and Adrian Fein are expected of keep their places in midfield, sitting in front of defensive quartet Siebe Horemans, Sven Nieuwpoort, Redouan El Yaakoubi and Nathan Tjoe-A-On.
As for Volendam, Francesco Antonucci is set to miss out through injury, while Calvin Twigt returned to the matchday squad last weekend after a spell on the sidelines and will be available for selection again on Friday.
Brian Plat, Daryl van Mieghem, Walid Ould-Chikh and Henk Veerman, who all began on the substitutes' bench last time out, will be hoping to force their way into the first XI.
SBV Excelsior possible starting lineup:
Van Gassel; Horemans, Nieuwpoort, El Yaakoubi, Tjoe; Fein, Baas; Azarkan, Goudmijn, Driouech; Kharchouch
FC Volendam possible starting lineup:
Stankovic; Mbuyamba, Benamar, Mirani; Buur, Eiting, Da Silva, Murkin; B. Ould-Chikh, Oristanio; Muhren
We say: SBV Excelsior 1-2 FC Volendam
A closely-fought contest between two sides hoping to climb away from the relegation zone is expected on Friday, and goals could be on the cards considering the defensive frailties that the two teams have shown so far this term.
However, the momentum is with Volendam and we feel that they will do enough to secure a third successive Eredivisie victory to boost their hopes of survival.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Oliver Thomas
