Vitesse and VVV-Venlo face off against each other at the GelreDome on Tuesday with both sides looking to book a place in the final of this season's KNVB Beker.
This is the third meeting between the teams since the turn of the year, and the previous two encounters yielded one win apiece.
Match preview
Vitesse's journey to the last four was anything but straightforward with narrow victories over Willem II and ADO Den Haag followed by a 1-0 triumph versus Excelsior three weeks ago.
Thomas Letsch's men have already gone a step further than they did last year when they were knocked out by Ajax in the quarter-final.
Since their last cup involvement, they have won just one of three Eredivisie games, but that was against VVV in a 4-1 rout on Saturday.
Vitas' last major trophy came in the 2017 edition of this tournament, and they will fancy themselves to go all the way once again.
VVV-Venlo's ticket to the semi-final was earned courtesy of a 2-1 win over NEC Nijmegen in extra time at De Goffert two Wednesdays ago.
Hans De Koning's men have lost back-to-back league games since then, and they run the risk of being dragged into a relegation scrap.
Venlose Trots are only five points clear of the drop zone, but they have a game in hand on the trio of Willem II, Den Haag and Emmen.
In the meantime, securing a place in next month's final is the target as they look for a first piece of silverware in over a decade.
However, they have lost three of their last four matches away at Vitesse by a combined score of 9-2, and they last beat Tuesday's hosts on home turf in 2013.
Vitesse KNVB Beker form: WWW
Vitesse form (all competitions): DLWLLW
VVV-Venlo KNVB Beker form: WWW
VVV-Venlo form (all competitions): WLLWLL
Team News
With the exception of Enrico Hernandez, who has had his transition to the first team stalled by an ankle injury, the home side have a full squad to pick from.
Sondre Tronstad netted his debut goal for Vitesse last time out, so he could be rewarded with a second consecutive start ahead of Thomas Bruns.
Christian Kum will serve the second of a three-game ban after he was sent off in his side's defeat to AZ Alkmaar two Saturdays ago.
Tristan Dekker is still a few weeks away from making his return to action as he continues to nurse a muscle tear, and he will miss the game.
Vito van Crooy is currently in isolation after coming in contact with someone who tested positive for coronavirus, and it is still unclear if he will feature for the away side.
Vitesse possible starting lineup:
Pasveer; Wittek, Rasmussen, Bazoer, Doekhi, Dasa; Tannane, Bero, Tronstad; Broja, Openda
VVV-Venlo possible starting lineup:
Kirschbaum; Guwara, Da Graca, Gelmi, Pachonik; Linthorst, Donis, Post; Shabani, Giakoumakis, John
We say: Vitesse 2-1 VVV-Venlo
Experience in this kind of match often comes in handy, and Vitesse have plenty of it, so we are backing them to come out on top and progress to the final on that account.
Top tip
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 Vitesse win with a probability of 60.2%. A draw had a probability of 20.6% and a win for VVV-Venlo had a probability of 19.21%.
The most likely scoreline for a Vitesse win was 2-1 with a probability of 9.89%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-0 (8.99%) and 1-0 (8.58%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (9.44%), while for a VVV-Venlo win it was 1-2 (5.19%). The actual scoreline of 2-0 was predicted with an 9% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Vitesse would win this match.
