Two sides in search of a third consecutive Eredivisie victory clash on Sunday when Heracles welcome Sparta Rotterdam to the Erve Asito.
October's reverse fixture between the teams ended in a 1-1 draw, so a win here for either side would see them get the better of the other over two games.
Match preview
© Reuters
Sparta Rotterdam recorded a second consecutive win with a 2-0 victory over RKC Waalwijk at the Het Kasteel on Saturday.
Second-half goals from Tom Beugelsdijk and Bryan Smeets were enough to hand Henk Fraser's men their eighth league triumph of the season.
De Kasteelheren now have the top half of the Eredivisie table in sight as they are currently just five points adrift of ninth spot going into this weekend's game.
That margin could become even smaller should Sunday hosts manage to claim all three points over their opponents, who are occupying ninth place as things stand.
However, both teams come into the game having picked up seven points from the last nine, so the clash has all the makings of a proper contest.
Heracles ran out 2-1 winners for the second game running, defeating ADO Den Haag at the Cars Jeans Stadion on Saturday.
Noah Fadiga's own goal put Frank Wormuth's men behind midway through the second half, but Sinan Bakis restored parity minutes later, before Rai Vloet completed the comeback in the 83rd minute.
The Heraclieden are one point worse off than they were at this stage last season, but they are still in the running for eighth place where they ended the last campaign.
Sunday's hosts are unbeaten in five of the last six meetings between the teams on home turf, and they will be confident of extending that streak.
- W
- L
- L
- D
- W
- W
- L
- L
- L
- D
- W
- W
Team News
Sparta's Goncalves Pinto is out with a muscle injury which he picked up on the last day of February in a fixture versus Willem II.
The away side will also be without 29-year-old Tim Coremans, who has been nursing a shoulder injury for the past nine months.
Tim Breukers made his return to the Heracles bench last time out, but a start in this one might just be too soon for him.
Newly-promoted academy graduates Kasper Jakobsen and Rohat Agca are both ill, so they are not expected to play any part in Sunday's clash.
The home team will have to cope with the absence of Navajo Bakboord, who has not featured this season as he remains sidelined with a muscle injury.
Heracles possible starting lineup:
Blaswich; Fadiga, Propper, Rente, Quagliata; Schoofs, Azzaoui, De La Torre; Kutucu, Vloet, Burgzorg
Sparta Rotterdam possible starting lineup:
Okoye; Vriends, Heylen, Beugelsdijk, Fortes; Auassar, Burger, Smeets; Duarte, Mijnans, Thy
We say: Heracles 2-1 Sparta Rotterdam
This could go either way as both sides come into this one in good form. However, we are backing the home team to come out victorious by a narrow margin in what should be a closely contested 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 Heracles win with a probability of 42.99%. A win for Sparta Rotterdam had a probability of 30.97% and a draw had a probability of 26%.
The most likely scoreline for a Heracles win was 1-0 with a probability of 10.49%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (8.9%) and 2-0 (7.54%). The likeliest Sparta Rotterdam win was 0-1 (8.61%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (12.38%). The actual scoreline of 1-1 was predicted with a 12.4% likelihood.
