Round nine of the 2024-25 Eredivisie season will see Willem II lock horns against Fortuna Sittard at the Koning Willem II Stadion on Sunday.
Both teams head into this one off the back of victories in their most recent outings and will be looking to pick up where they left off.
Match preview
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Willem II resumed life back amongst the Dutch elite with no defeats and five points from their opening three encounters, including an impressive 1-1 stalemate against last season's runners-up Feyenoord to kick off proceedings.
However, Peter Maes's men would go on to lose three of their next four matches either side of the September international break before a 1-0 triumph over Almere City at the Yanmar Stadion on October 4 last time out.
De Superkruiken mustered only four shots over the course of the 90 minutes compared to their opponents' 22 but managed to secure a smash-and-grab win with their only attempt on target 12 minutes from time through Amar Ahmed.
With 11 points amassed from eight matches so far, Willem II currently sit eighth in the Eredivisie table, three points shy of FC Twente in fourth in what has been a decent start to their top-flight return after a two-year absence.
Having emphatically beaten Excelsior 6-1 in a warm-up fixture during the break, Sunday's hosts now go in search of consecutive league wins for the first time this season ahead of next week's trip to Amsterdam to face off against Ajax.
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Fortuna Sittard secured a much-needed return to winning ways last time out as they got the better of AZ Alkmaar thanks to a hard-fought 1-0 victory at the Fortuna Sittard Stadion when the teams faced off on October 6.
Rodrigo Guth's 78th-minute opener was enough to get the job done for Danny Buijs's men, who had earlier spurned a great opportunity to take the lead after Alen Halilovic fluffed his lines from 12 yards just before the half-time whistle.
That snapped a five-game winless run in the league for the Fortunezen off the back of consecutive wins against Go Ahead Eagles and Almere City to start the season with maximum points from their first two outings.
Sitting just one point shy of their next opponents, Fortuna Sittard will leapfrog Willem II in the standings with a victory on Sunday, but recent meetings suggest they are less fancied to emerge victorious in Tilburg.
The away side are currently on a 12-game winless run on their hosts' ground and have only come out on top in one of their 18 visits across all competitions leading up to this weekend's encounter.
Team News
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Erik Schouten has not featured for Willem II since their final Eerste Divisie game of last season, and the defender is still a considerable way off making his comeback.
The home side will also take to the field without the services of Dani Mathieu through a knock, while fellow Dutchman Niels van Berkel also misses out as he is yet to fully recuperate from a knee problem.
Summer signing Amar Ahmed opened his account in Dutch football at the fifth time of asking against Almere and could be rewarded with his first start of the campaign.
Kristoffer Peterson and Kaj Sierhuis are both guaranteed absentees for Fortuna here, with the latter not expected back in contention until February 2025.
Twenty-seven-year-old Alessio Da Cruz remains without an appearance this season due to a foot injury that forced him to undergo surgery, but a return to action is not far off.
Willem II possible starting lineup:
Didillon; St. Jago, Behounek, Tirpan; Lachkar, Meerveld, Bosch, Doodeman, Nizet; Vaesen, Sandra
Fortuna Sittard possible starting lineup:
Branderhorst; Dahlhaus, Guth, Adewoye, Pinto; Rosier, Bastien, Fosso; Bullaude, Aiko, Halilovic
We say: Willem II 2-1 Fortuna Sittard
Fortuna Sittard do not have fond memories of playing away at Willem II and on the road generally of late having lost three of their last four games.
We are backing the home side to come away with maximum points and give their fans reason to cheer at the end of the 90 minutes.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Adepoju Marvellous
