The penultimate fixture on matchday 19 in the Eredivisie will come from Goffertstadion where NEC Nijmegen will be playing host to Fortuna Sittard on Sunday afternoon.
These two are separated by five points and five places in the league standings, with the hosts in the 12th spot on 20 points, while the visitors are eighth with 25 points.
Match preview
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NEC endured a poor end to 2024, losing four and drawing one of their final five league games of the year, while they were also knocked out of the KNVB Beker by Heracles 1-0 in the second round last month.
De Enige Echte were particularly poor in defence during that winless run, shipping 14 goals in the five league games, which was four more than they conceded across the first 12 matchdays of the season.
However, they returned in the New Year on a positive note, notching up a 1-0 victory over PEC Zwolle on the road last weekend - just their second away win in the top flight since September last year.
Koki Agawa scored the only goal of the match in Zwolle, and that result also marked the first time Rogier Meijer's side managed to maintain a clean sheet since the start of November.
The hosts will now look to build on that result back on their home patch, where they have failed to win any of their last three league matches (W0 D1 L0) and have taken just 11 of a possible 27 points to date this season.
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In contrast, Fortuna Sittard enjoyed a solid end to last year, which saw them move into the top-eight with draws away to Feyenoord and Heracles before back-to-back victories over RKC Waalwijk and a stunning 5-2 win against high-flyers Utrecht.
However, their new year began with disappointment, as they were beaten by Go Ahead Eagles following the festive break, as Jakob Breum became the youngest player to score a hat-trick for the pride of the IJssel in the Eredivisie since Toine Rorije in 1993.
Fortunezen will be hoping to return to winning ways this week, but they have not fared well in this fixture in recent times, winless in their last five encounters against this opponent, including a 3-0 defeat in the reverse fixture back in August.
Additionally, the visitors have found positive results hard to come by on the road this season, having only managed two wins in nine away games, while only posting one clean sheet in their last eight.
Team News
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Returning to the Eredivisie from Urawa Red Diamonds, Bryan Linssen made his debut off the bench for NEC in the victory over PEC Zwolle last weekend, and the experienced winger will be in contention to make his first start in this one.
Bram Nuytinck returned to the bench following a spell on the sidelines last week and was given the final 13 minutes to help build up his fitness, while Mees Hoedemakers was cleared from an illness ahead of kick off and made the starting 11.
After missing the first seven games of the season with a foot injury, Cape Verde international Alessio da Cruz has now started the last four games for Fortuna Sittard, netting three goals and providing an assist in that time.
The visitors have just two absentees for this trip to Nijmegen, with midfielder Onur Demir (unspecified) and forward Kaj Sierhuis (knee) both ruled out for the foreseeable future due to injury.
NEC possible starting lineup:
Roefs; Pereira, Marquez, Sandler, Verdonk; Proper, Hoedemakers; Sano, Van Crooij, Ouaissa; Ogawa
Fortuna Sittard possible starting lineup:
Branderhorst; Pinto, Adewoye, Guth, Rosier, Dahlhaus; Halilovic, Michut, Fosso, Tunjic; Da Cruz
We say: NEC 2-2 Fortuna Sittard
While NEC managed to bring an end to a five-match winless run last weekend against PEC Zwolle, they are now set to face a much sterner task against top-half opposition.
Fortuna Sittard have only won two away games this season, but they have been tough to beat on the road, losing only once in their last six outings, and we feel they will be able to earn a share of the spoils in this one.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Devesh Jaganath
