A sold-out crowd at Stadion Feijenoord will witness a highly-anticipated Rotterdam derby on Sunday night, when Dutch champions Feyenoord host Sparta Rotterdam in the Eredivisie.
The Pride of the South have enjoyed back-to-back successes over AZ Alkmaar recently, whilst Sparta's struggles continued against PEC Zwolle last time out.
Match preview
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Feyenoord extended their winning run across the Eredivisie and the KNVB Cup to eight matches on Wednesday night, comfortably getting the better of fellow Dutch giants AZ Alkmaar to progress into the semi-finals of the cup, with the hosts in Rotterdam netting either side of the half-time pause.
Adding to his five league goals, right-back Lutsharel Geertruida opened the scoring for the Pride of the South before they doubled their quarter-final advantage in the second period, when winger Bart Nieuwkoop made the net ripple, securing his side's safe passage into the last four.
Arne Slot's men were also successful over fourth-placed Alkmaar during their last Eredivisie contest, with 24-year-old Dutchman Mats Wieffer scoring his third league goal of the term to take Sunday's hosts five points clear of third-placed FC Twente in the top-tier standings.
Only runaway leaders PSV Eindhoven and the aforementioned Tukkers possess a greater home record than Feyenoord so far in 2023-24, with the Pride of the South collecting 21 points from their 10 Eredivisie matches at their Stadion Feijenoord home, losing on just the single occasion.
The star man for Feyenoord in terms of goalscoring antics has undoubtedly been Mexican marksman Santiago Gimenez, with the 22-year-old playing his way towards a serious summer move, finding the net on 19 occasions and providing four assists in just 20 league appearances.
Sparta Rotterdam are heading into Sunday's derby clash low on confidence following three-straight matches without victory in the Eredivisie since the 2-0 win at Fortuna Sittard, losing by the same scoreline to fellow top-eight chasers PEC Zwolle at Sparta-Stadion last Sunday.
Despite having the majority of possession and creating clear-cut chances, De Kasteelheren were unable to breach the net of Zwolle goalkeeper Jasper Schendelaar, with the visitors sealing a much-needed maximum through the strikes of Thomas Lam and Davy van den Berg.
Having won just one of their last six Eredivisie matches, Sparta have slipped down to ninth in the top-flight standings but are outside of the Europa Conference League playoff positions due to goal difference, meaning there is plenty for Jeroen Rijsdijk's charges to fight for.
If De Kasteelheren are to achieve an unlikely spot on the continental stage this term, you feel as if Norwegian duo Joshua Kitolano and Tobias Lauritsen will have a massive part to play, with the Scandinavian pair combining for 10 of their side's league goals so far, netting five each.
Team News
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Feyenoord remain without the services of first-choice goalkeeper Justin Bijlow, with the 26-year-old expected back in March as he recovers from a shin injury.
German Timon Wellenreuther will therefore continue in between the sticks for the hosts, with David Hancko and Thomas Beelen set to be the centre-back pairing in front of the shot-stopper.
Joining from PEC Zwolle during the summer transfer window, Thomas van den Belt's first season in Rotterdam has been hampered by injuries, with the midfielder currently sidelined due to a hip problem.
Sparta could make some alterations to their attacking line after drawing a blank last weekend, with Koki Saito and Charles-Andreas Brym potentially dropping to the bench.
Five-goal forward Lauritsen will be expecting to regain his spot in the starting XI, and Jonathan de Guzman could line up in the engine room against his former employers.
Feyenoord possible starting lineup:
Wellenreuther; Geertruida, Beelen, Hankco, Hartman; Wieffer, Timber; Nieuwkoop, Stengs, Paixao; Gimenez
Sparta Rotterdam possible starting lineup:
Olij; Bakari, Vriends, Eerdhuijzen, Warmerdam; Clement, Kitolano, Mito, Verschueren, Neghli; Lauritsen
We say: Feyenoord 2-0 Sparta Rotterdam
Form often goes out of the window during a derby clash, however Feyenoord's positive run of late is too good to ignore, and the hosts should be confident of earning maximum points.
The hostile home of their local rivals would be a perfect place for Sparta to get their top-eight aims back on track, although we cannot envisage anything other than a loss for the visitors on Sunday.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
