Aiming to maintain their perfect start to the new season, Feyenoord travel to the Stadion Galgenwaard to lock horns against FC Utrecht on Sunday.
Meanwhile, the home side are looking to make it two wins in a row on home turf after they were denied all three points on the road last time out.
Match preview
© Reuters
After kicking off their league campaign with a 4-0 thrashing of Willem II, Feyenoord saw off the threat of newcomers Go Ahead Eagles in a 2-0 victory at De Kuip on Sunday.
Bryan Linssen was the hero of the show as he gave Arne Slot's men the lead right on the hour mark, before sealing the deal with his second of the game three minutes from time.
De Stadionclub are one of three teams yet to drop points this term and they currently occupy top spot in the standings due to their superior goal difference.
Despite a 3-1 defeat in the second leg of their Conference League playoff encounter versus Swedish side Elfsborg on Thursday, the Rotterdam-based outfit booked their place in the maiden edition of the new continental competition courtesy of a 6-3 aggregate win after a 5-0 first-leg triumph.
Four years on from their last league title, Sunday's hosts now go in search of a third Eredivisie win on the trot to outline their credentials as serious challengers this term.
Off the back of a 4-0 opening-day win over Sparta Rotterdam, Utrecht were held to a goalless draw by Groningen on Saturday when the sides faced off at the Hitachi Capital Mobility Stadium.
In a game where clear-cut opportunities were few and far between, Rene Hake's men can count themselves lucky to have come away with a point after a largely unconvincing display.
The Domstedelingen currently boast the joint-best defensive record alongside this weekend's opponents, but that seemingly impenetrable rearguard will be put to test by the league's fiercest attack so far.
On a ground where they are without a victory in the last seven years, Sunday's visitors face a stern test in what is undeniably their toughest assignment to date.
- W
- D
- W
- W
- L
- L
- W
- D
- W
- W
- W
- W
- W
- W
- W
- L
Team News
© Reuters
Defender Reda Akmum is ruled out of the contest as he continues his spell out of action with a knee injury which he picked up in February.
The visitors will also have to make do with the unavailability of Tommy St Jago as he picked up a knee problem in his side's final warm-up fixture.
Twenty-year-old Christopher Mamengi still awaits his first appearance of the season after damaging his knee in a pre-season friendly versus Venezia.
Marcos Senesi was hauled off seven minutes into Feyenoord's last league outing due to a groin injury and he is a doubt for his side's trip to Utrecht.
The Argentine is joined on the sidelines by Mark Diemers who has not featured for this weekend's visitors in over a month due to a knee injury.
FC Utrecht possible starting lineup:
Paes; Warmerdam, Janssen, Ter Avest, Benamar; Ramselaar, Timber, Maher; Kerk, Boussaid, Douvikas
Feyenoord possible starting lineup:
Bijlow; Malacia, Burger, Trauner, Pedersen; Kokcu, Aursnes, Til; Sinisterra, Linssen, Toornstra
We say: FC Utrecht 1-3 Feyenoord
Feyenoord are firing on all cylinders at the moment and it is hard to look past a victory for them in this one but Utrecht have more than held their own so far.
While we expect the sides to finally be breached this weekend, we fancy the visitors to come out on top and maintain their 100% league record.
Top tip
Adepoju Marvellous
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 Feyenoord win with a probability of 44.37%. A win for FC Utrecht had a probability of 30.86% and a draw had a probability of 24.8%.
The most likely scoreline for a Feyenoord win was 0-1 with a probability of 9.19%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-2 (9.15%) and 0-2 (7.21%). The likeliest FC Utrecht win was 1-0 (7.43%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (11.65%). The actual scoreline of 3-1 was predicted with a 3.1% likelihood.
