Two sides separated by just two points in the top half of the Eredivisie table will lock horns on Saturday, as FC Utrecht welcome Cambuur to Stadion Galgenwaard.
After a victory over Sparta Rotterdam last time out, the hosts climbed back to seventh spot in the Dutch top flight, leapfrogging their visitors who are just two points worse off.
Match preview
After a relatively strong start to the Eredivisie season, earning 26 points from their opening 14 games, Utrecht hit a tough run of form at the beginning of December, failing to pick up a victory from a run of five games.
After a 3-0 defeat to Ajax in their first game of the new year, the Domstedelingen bounced back in style last time out, earning a 3-0 victory away at Sparta Rotterdam.
Anastasios Douvikas opened the scoring early, and Mimoun Mahi added a second at the beginning of the second half before a Tim Coremans own goal capped off a dominant performance for Rene Hake's side.
That result saw Utrecht climb back up to seventh spot in the Dutch top flight, leapfrogging Saturday's opponents and moving back within four points of the top five.
They will now look to add a second straight victory to move further from the chasing pack and closer to the chance of another top-six finish this term, having not ended a campaign seventh or lower since 2015.
Their visitors arrive with far less experience at this end of the Eredivisie, after only winning promotion back to the top tier last season.
Following their dominant campaign in the Eerste Divisie last term, Cambuur headed into the new campaign with high hopes, and they went above and beyond in the first half.
With 27 points from 16 outings, Henk de Jong's side established themselves in the top half, although they have now hit a tougher run, playing out three consecutive draws after a defeat to Heerenveen.
The latest of those draws was certainly the most commendable, as the Yellow-Blues earned a valuable point from a goalless stalemate away at fifth-placed AZ Alkmaar.
While they will be pleased with that result, De Jong's side have dropped to eighth spot as a result of their dip, and they will now look to break a four-game winless run to climb back above Utrecht on Saturday.
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Team News
After their dominant victory last time out, Utrecht are unlikely to make many changes for Saturday's game, with Hake again set to deploy his side in a positive 4-3-3.
Anastasios Douvikas and Mimoun Mahi will both keep their spots on the wings after each finding the net in that win, with Sander van de Streek again likely to play down the middle of the front three.
Elsewhere, the Domstedelingen have little reason to change the back four of Hidde ter Avest, Mike van der Hoorn, Mark van der Maarel and Django Warmerdam after a convincing clean sheet.
Cambuur's line will be led by Roberts Uldrikis, who has netted five goals in 13 Eredivisie appearances since his summer move from Sion.
After an elusive clean sheet of their own, they should also deploy an unchanged defensive line, with Calvin Mac-Intosch and Erik Schouten partnering up at the heart of a back four.
FC Utrecht possible starting lineup:
De Keijzer; Ter Avest, Van Der Hoorn, Van Der Maarel, Warmerdam; Boussaid, Maher, Timber; Douvikas, Van De Streek, Mahi
Cambuur possible starting lineup:
Stevens; Schmidt, Mac-Intosh, Schouten, Sylla; Jacobs, Maulun, Paulissen; Doodeman, Uldrikis, Joosten
We say: FC Utrecht 2-1 Cambuur
While Cambuur impressed against AZ Alkmaar last time out, their defence tends to be leaky, and we see them falling just short away from home.
Utrecht will be full of confidence after their 3-0 win, and they should have enough to make it two victories on the bounce in what will be a tight affair.
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 FC Utrecht win with a probability of 54.51%. A win for Cambuur had a probability of 23.75% and a draw had a probability of 21.7%.
The most likely scoreline for a FC Utrecht win was 2-1 with a probability of 9.7%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-0 (7.87%) and 2-0 (7.8%). The likeliest Cambuur win was 1-2 (6.09%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (9.79%). The actual scoreline of 3-2 was predicted with a 4% likelihood. Our team at Sports Mole and our data analysis both correctly predicted that FC Utrecht would win this match.
