Preview: Sparta Rotterdam vs NEC - prediction, team news, lineups

Sparta Rotterdam and NEC bring round 23 of the 2025–26 Eredivisie season to a close with a meeting at Sparta Stadion Het Kasteel on Sunday evening.

Both teams saw their winning runs come to an end last time out and will now look to get back on track with three points to boost their push for European football.

Match preview

Five consecutive league wins dating back to December 21 had Sparta feeling confident ahead of their trip to Fortuna Sittard on Saturday, but they had to settle for a share of the spoils after Casper Terho's late equaliser secured a 2-2 draw.

A victory would have seen Maurice Steijn's men move level on points with fourth-placed Ajax in the Eredivisie table, before De Godenzonen travelled to AZ Alkmaar for the standout fixture of matchday 22.

Nonetheless, Sparta's current tally of 36 points from 22 matches is their best return at this stage of a season and has them poised for a return to European football for the first time since 1985.

De Kasteelheren face NEC and AZ, two fellow European hopefuls, over the next nine days and have every reason to be confident, having collected the joint-most points of any team over the last five matches (13), alongside PSV Eindhoven.

However, a 3-1 defeat in the reverse fixture back in November means Sunday's hosts have now won only one of the last five meetings with NEC.

Both sides have opened the scoring in six of their last eight matches, so neither team can afford a slow start, potentially setting the stage for an enthralling contest from the outset.

Perhaps the biggest surprise package of the 2025-26 campaign, NEC are currently third in the standings and on course for their highest-ever league finish, which would also put them in contention for Champions League football.

Also surprising was the Eniesee's 3-1 defeat to FC Utrecht on Wednesday, with early goals in each half from Angel Alarcon Galiot and Yoann Cathline, either side of a Gjivai Zechiel strike, putting Dick Schreuder's men to the sword.

That snapped the Eniesee's 13-game unbeaten run across all competitions since a 1-0 loss in the reverse fixture against their most recent opponents back in early November.

Back-to-back defeats have been a rare occurrence for NEC this term, and the Nijmegen-based outfit will hope to keep it that way in a weekend when they could climb to second or slip to fourth.

Scoring 27 times in 11 away league matches, Sunday's visitors have found the net with relative ease on the road, though this has yielded only five wins, largely due to a porous defence that has conceded 21 goals.

Sparta Rotterdam Eredivisie form:

Sparta Rotterdam form (all competitions):

NEC Eredivisie form:

NEC form (all competitions):

Team News

On loan from NEC, Vito van Crooij is ineligible to face his parent club, although he would have missed out regardless due to injury.

Tobias Lauritsen's strike against Fortuna moved him up to 10 league goals, meaning he has now reached double figures in each of the past four seasons.

Nineteen-year-old Freek Entius remains unavailable due to a long-term knee problem and is unlikely to return to action this term.

Sami Ouaissa is NEC's only other confirmed absentee for Sunday's clash, with the midfielder suspended for one match due to an accumulation of yellow cards.

After a disappointing debut campaign in which he scored just four goals, Bryan Linssen has contributed six goals and seven assists so far, making him one to watch.

Sparta Rotterdam possible starting lineup:

Drommel; Quintero, Martins Indi, Young, Martes; Kitolano, Clement; Mito, Santos, Van Bergen; Lauritsen

NEC possible starting lineup:

Crettaz; Dasa, Kaplan, Sandler; Onal, Sano, Nejasmic, Pereira; Lebreton, Chery, Linssen

We say: Sparta Rotterdam 2-2 NEC

NEC's 22 league matches have produced a combined 95 goals, the highest total in the Eredivisie, suggesting that a high-scoring encounter could be on the cards in Rotterdam.

With both teams in good form, we predict that they will cancel each other out and share the points come the sound of the final whistle.

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