Off the back of contrasting results last time out, Almere City and Fortuna Sittard face off at the Yanmar Stadion in round 18 of the 2023-24 Eredivisie campaign on Saturday.
The hosts suffered a first defeat in five matches in their most recent outing, while their visitors made it two wins from their last three matches.
Match preview
Almere were denied a place in the quarter-final of the KNVB-Beker owing to a 2-1 defeat to Almere City when the teams faced off on Wednesday evening.
Alex Pastoor's men went into the interval with a mountain to climb after conceding a first-half double to Kaj Sierhuis, after which Kornelius Hansen pulled one back in the final knockings.
Prior to that, De Zwarte Schapen claimed a hard-fought 1-0 victory over FC Volendam at the Kras Stadion on Sunday to move up to 12th in the Eredivisie table.
Awaiting them next is the challenge of an opposing outfit who have come out on top in each of the last four editions of this fixture across all competitions.
Currently on a run of just one win in five home matches, Saturday's hosts will need to get going in front of their fans to enjoy a more productive second half of the campaign.
Fortuna's Dutch Cup victory last time out was their fourth in six matches, but they will be keen to return to winning ways in the league, where they have lost both of their last two matches.
With 19 points amassed from 17 matches so far, Danny Buijs's men sit 11th in the standings, one point away from the top half and a further two shy of continental contention.
Having won both of their last two matches away from home leading up to this weekend's affair, Saturday's visitors now go in search of another positive result on the road.
Team News
Deroy Duarte is on international duty with Cape Verde at the ongoing Africa Cup of Nations and will not play any part for Fortuna Sittard.
Following his two-goal haul last time out, Kaj Sierhuis has now scored seven times in his last eight outings, making him one to keep an eye on.
Almere's Faiz Mattoir has not featured since the early stages of last season due to a knee injury, which will keep him out of this weekend's game.
Thirty-two-year-old midfielder Alvaro Pena remains an injury doubt for the home side here as he is yet to fully recuperate from a knock.
Almere City possible starting lineup:
Bakker; Jacobs, Mbe Soh, Floranus; Ritmeester, Koopmeiners, Corryn, Castell; Robinet, Kitala, Van Duiven
Fortuna Sittard possible starting lineup:
Verrips; Pinto, Siovas, Guth, Voet; Ferati, Rosier; Oratmangoen, Cordoba, Griffith; Sierhuis
We say: Almere City 1-1 Fortuna Sittard
There is little to choose between the sides, and this weekend's clash could easily go either way. That said, we are backing a share of the spoils with honours even come the end of the 90 minutes.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Adepoju Marvellous
