VVV-Venlo travel to the Stadion Galgenwaard on Sunday for their clash against FC Utrecht, who have been on the rise in recent weeks.
Both teams have an identical record of three wins, a draw and a loss from the last five league games, so there is little to choose between them at the moment.
Match preview
Utrecht were unable to make it four league wins on the bounce as they shared the spoils in a 3-3 draw with PEC Zwolle, who were very close to taking all three points.
Nonetheless, 10 points from four games is a healthy return by any standard as the Domstedelingen continue to climb up the table.
Rene Hake's men are now up to ninth on the log, and they also have a game in hand on Heerenveen and Twente, who are the two sides just ahead of them.
They have achieved this despite having faced AZ Alkmaar, Vitesse and Groningen - three of the current top six - since the turn of the year.
VVV's six-game unbeaten run in all competitions since the turn of the year was brought to an end by Fortuna Sittard two Sundays ago courtesy of a 3-2 defeat.
That run has taken them clear of any immediate danger of relegation, and also into the quarter-final of the KNVB-Beker, where they will face NEC Nijmegen.
Venlo have lost nine of their last 14 meetings against Utrecht, but the last two have finished all square, including September's reverse fixture which ended 1-1 at the Covebo Stadion.
The Venlose Trots have games against AZ, Vitesse and Feyenoord to come on the back of Sunday's encounter, but they would relish the chance of going up against the big boys given the form that they are currently in.
No player in the division has scored more goals either this calendar year or the season in general than Giorgos Giakoumakis, who netted his 21st of the campaign in that aforementioned defeat to Fortuna.
FC Utrecht Eredivisie form: DLWWWD
VVV-Venlo Eredivisie form: WWDWWL
VVV-Venlo form (all competitions): WDWWWL
Team News
Eljero Elia and Emil Bergstrom are still unavailable for Utrecht due to hamstring injuries, but the latter is close to being available again.
Christopher Mamengi will not feature for the home side until April at the earliest due to an ankle injury that he picked up while on duty with the reserve team.
VVV will have to make do without Guus Hupperts as he nurses a knee problem that has sidelined him since December, although he has made the bench on a couple of occasions since then.
Tristan Dekker is still a few weeks away from making his return to action as he battles with a muscle tear, and he will miss the game.
FC Utrecht possible starting lineup:
Oelschlagel; Warmerdam, Janssen, St Jago, Ter Avest; Maher, Boussaid, Van Overeem; Ramselaar, Van De Streek, Kerk
VVV-Venlo possible starting lineup:
Kirschbaum; Guwara, Da Graca, Gelmi, Pachonik; Linthorst, Donis, Post; Van Crooy, Giakoumakis, John
We say: FC Utrecht 2-1 VVV-Venlo
The teams are high on confidence going into this one, so it is hard to see either team running away with it. Notwithstanding, we expect Utrecht to narrowly take the victory in what should be an entertaining affair.
Top betting 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 69.85%. A draw had a probability of 17.4% and a win for VVV-Venlo had a probability of 12.7%.
The most likely scoreline for a FC Utrecht win was 2-0 with a probability of 10.57%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (9.62%) and 1-0 (8.91%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (8.11%), while for a VVV-Venlo win it was 1-2 (3.69%). The actual scoreline of 3-1 was predicted with a 7.6% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that FC Utrecht would win this match.
