Two of the big favourites to go down from the Eredivisie this season meet on Thursday, when Groningen welcome Cambuur to the Euroborg.
The two sides find themselves bottom of the form table having made torrid returns after the World Cup break.
Match preview
Ahead of what should be a fascinating encounter, more so for reasons the clubs would not favour, neither side have won a game since both remarkably beat PSV Eindhoven just three weeks apart in October.
Groningen have zero points from their last five games and Cambuur have just one from their last eight.
To add mutual salt to the wounds, both clubs are still reeling from being knocked out of the KNVB-Beker by amateur sides from the Tweede Divisie just over a week ago - the Dutch third tier which has no promotion to the professional leagues.
Groningen have won only three games all season, one of them being against PSV, but another was in the reverse fixture back in September when they won 1-0 in Leeuwarden.
They have since lost six in a row in all competitions, including that humiliating defeat at home to amateurs Spakenburg, who were 3-0 up at one stage, in the cup.
It has been a bizarre capitulation from Groningen, who had a respectable eight points after six games, but it remains a minor miracle that they are still not in the relegation places at all.
Conceding 24 goals in their last 10 Eredivisie matches goes some way to suggest why their fall off in form has been so drastic.
The sudden loss of form of US international Ricardo Pepi has not helped matters either, because after a lightning start in the green of Groningen, he has hit a brick wall and scored just once in his last seven games.
Sacking manager Frank Wormuth during the intermission for the World Cup and bringing in Dennis van der Ree until the end of the season has made no impact at all, as he has lost all four games in charge.
Sjors Ultee has suffered a similar fate since being brought in during the break at Cambuur too, replacing Henk de Jong who had to step away from football for health reasons towards the end of 2022.
They are still rooted to the bottom of the Eredivisie table, but the awful form of the sides around them means they are still well in touch of safety.
It is approaching four months since their last win - a 3-0 hammering of PSV which remains the only points they have picked up at home all season.
Eight defeats from nine at the Cambuur Stadion means they may actually favour being on the road here, as they have only lost four of their eight away matches in comparison.
No team in the bottom eight has conceded fewer goals, but Cambuur are still in single figures for goals after 17 games, having astonishingly drawn a blank in 13 of those matches.
Team News
Johan Hove, Aimar Sher and Mads Bech Sorensen all made their debuts for Groningen in the defeat to Heerenveen at the weekend and will all hope to aid the side in moving up the table.
However, the promising Neraysho Kasanwirjo has left for Feyenoord in the last week and will be a big miss.
Marin Sverko, Nordin Musampa, Laros Duarte, Daleho Irandust and Paulos Abraham are all on a pretty lengthy injury list for the hosts.
Cambuur's only January recruit so far, Mimoun Mahi, is still unavailable after arriving injured from Utrecht.
Felix Mambimbi, Maxim Gullit and Jasper ter Heide are the other players confirmed to be missing this one.
Groningen possible starting lineup:
Verrips; Bech Sorensen, Blokzijl, Balker; Van Gelderen, Oratmangoen, Hove, Valente, Dybvik Maatta; Pepi, Kruger
Cambuur possible starting lineup:
Joao Virginia; Schmidt, Bergsma, Smand, Bangura; Jacobs, Hoedemakers, Van Kaam; Breij, Boere, Maulun
We say: Groningen 0-0 Cambuur
Two hopelessly out of form sides both struggling to score a goal facing off does not promise a thriller, and both may take a point just to get something on the board after torrid runs.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Andrew Delaney
