Two sides looking to bounce back to winning ways in the Eredivisie will face off on Saturday evening when Willem II take on Feyenoord at Koning Willem II Stadion.
A win for the hosts here will propel them into the top half of the table overnight, while the visitors need a victory to keep up with the chasing pack behind league leaders PSV.
Match preview
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Willem II will be well proud of their output in their return to the top flight, having already earned 22 points from 18 games, just 11 fewer than they managed across the entire 2021-22 season when they suffered the drop.
Superkruiken enter this match off the back of a crushing 6-2 defeat at the hands of Twente last weekend, when they fell apart in the second half, conceding four goals in 40 minutes after heading into the half time break level at 2-2.
That result marked Peter Maes's side's third defeat in their last five league matches either side of back-to-back wins over PEC Zwolle and NEC, leaving them with a record of six wins, four draws and eight losses to date.
While Willem II have conceded two or more goals in four of their last six matches, they have only shipped 25 goals to date, which is four fewer than high-flyers Utrecht have allowed and just two more than their upcoming opponents and Twente in the top five.
However, the hosts will be looking to improve their home record of late, having only won one of their last six games, which was a 4-1 win over NEC at the back end of December last year.
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Meanwhile, Feyenoord ended last season just seven points behind PSV, but they need to find improvement from here on if they are to challenge for the title this term, as they are already 11 points behind the league leaders.
De club aan de Maas saw the gap to the top of the table widen either side of New Year, when they were beaten by the Boeren 3-0 on the road before suffering an against-the-odds 2-1 home defeat to Utrecht last weekend.
However, one major positive for Brian Priske's side is that they booked their spot in the quarter-final of the KNVB Beker in midweek with a commanding 4-1 victory over lower-division outfit Rijnsburgse Boys.
The visitors have been very good on the road this term, racking up five wins and three draws in their first eight away games of the season before suffering that defeat to PSV before the end of 2024.
While the reverse fixture ended in a 1-1 draw back in August, Feyenoord have been the dominant side in this contest, unbeaten in their last eight matches against this opponent dating back to March 2019.
Team News
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The hosts currently have two long-term absentees to contend with in the form of Niels van Berkel and Dani Mathieu, both of whom have undergone knee surgery and will remain sidelined for the foreseeable future.
Amine Lachkar and Amar Fatah are set for extended spells on the sidelines owing to groin injuries, while Kyan Vaesen and Rob Nizet are both flagged as major doubts due to muscle problems.
Feyenoord have a fairly lengthy injury list which also includes two long-term absentees in Quilindschy Hartman (knee) and Ayase Ueda (muscle tear), who have not featured in the last 40 and 15 games respectively.
Jordan Lotomba suffered a lower leg fracture in December and will likely miss the remainder of the season, while Bart Nieuwkoop (groin) and In-beom Hwang (unspecified) will also not make the trip to Tilburg this weekend.
Willem II possible starting lineup:
Didillon-Hodl; St. Jago, Behounek, Schouten; Sigurgeirsson, Doodeman, Bosch, Lambert, Joosten; Meerveld, Bokila
Feyenoord possible starting lineup:
Bijlow; Read, Trauner, Hancko, Bueno; Milambo, Zerrouki; Moussa, Stengs, Paixao; Gimenez
We say: Willem II 1-2 Feyenoord
Barring the defeat to PSV last month, Feyenoord have been very good on the road this season, scoring 14 goals in their last five away games. The visitors are also unbeaten in their last eight matches against this opponent and we feel they will extend that record with another victory in this one.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Devesh Jaganath
