Round 10 of the 2023-24 Eredivisie table sees FC Volendam and SBV Excelsior face off against each other at the Kras Stadion on Sunday.
Both teams suffered respective defeats in their most recent outings and they will be looking to bounce back as soon as possible in this weekend's encounter.
Match preview
FC Volendam fell to a narrow 2-1 defeat against RKC Waalwijk when the sides went head-to-head at the Mandemakers Stadion on Saturday.
Matthias Kohler's men fell behind to David Min's opener two minutes shy of half time but managed to restore parity through Benaissa Benamar, only for Yassin Oukili to grab a late winner.
As a result, Het Andere Oranje have dropped down to the bottom of the Eredivisie table, albeit just three points adrift of safety with a game in hand.
Coming up next is the challenge of an opposing outfit who boast just one win from the last five editions of this fixture, losing three of the other four.
However, that solitary win did come in the most recent encounter back in May when Sunday's hosts fell to a 3-2 defeat in last season's reverse meeting.
Excelsior saw their four-game unbeaten streak come to an end against PEC Zwolle following a 4-2 defeat in Sunday's clash at Van Donge & De Roo Stadion.
Marinus Dijkhuizen's men took the lead through Julian Baas but soon found themselves trailing to Apostolos Vellios's double and strikes from Younes Namli and Lennart Thy before Troy Parrott pulled one back.
Having amassed 13 points from their opening nine matches this term, the Kralingers sit sixth in the standings, nine points behind a place in the top four.
Unbeaten in all but one of their last five away outings leading up to Sunday's contest, the visitors will back themselves to secure another positive result on the road.
Team News
Dutch duo Lequincio Zeefuik and Brian Plat are both unavailable for FC Volendam this weekend, while Joey Antonioli remains out of contention.
The hosts will also be without the services of midfielder Robin Maulun, who is yet to feature for the home side since the third week of March.
Jacky Donkor and Lennard Hartjes are both ruled out for Excelsior through knee injuries, and they are joined on the sidelines by Mike van Duinen.
Raphael Eyongo is still a considerable way off making his return to action from an ankle problem but Kik Pierie is not far off fully recuperating from a foot injury.
FC Volendam possible starting lineup:
Backhaus; Cox, Benamar, Mbuyamba, Payne; Mirani, Twigt, De Haan; Kuol, Ould-Chikh; Muhren
SBV Excelsior possible starting lineup:
Van Gassel; Horemans, Widell, Nieuwpoort, Zagre; Baas, El Yaakoubi, Sandra; Sanches, Agrafiotis, Driouech
We say: FC Volendam 1-1 SBV Excelsior
Volendam have struggled for goals all-season long, but we can see them finding the back of the net here en route to a share of the spoils 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
