Unbeaten in each of their last nine matches, NEC entertain the challenge of Heracles at Stadion de Goffert on Saturday evening in round 20 of the 2023-24 Eredivisie season.

On the other hand, the away side make the journey to Nijmegen aiming to bounce back having suffered a first defeat in four matches last time out.

Match preview

NEC played out a thrilling share of the spoils against Go Ahead Eagles in a 2-2 draw when the teams faced off at De Adelaarshorst on Sunday.

Rogier Meijer's men led 1-0 and 2-1 through strikes from Magnus Mattsson and Tjarron Chery but were pegged back on either occasion by Bas Kuipers and Victor Edvardsen.

As a result, the Eniesee remain seventh in the Eredivisie table, three points clear of the chasing pack in the race for the final continental spot.

On the horizon next is the task of facing off against an opposing outfit who have come out on top in just one of the last six editions of this fixture.

However, that solitary win did come in the most recent encounter in this season's reverse meeting when Saturday's hosts fell to a 2-1 defeat.

Heracles suffered a first league defeat of 2024 as they were comprehensively beaten 4-2 by Ajax in Saturday's contest at the Johan Cruyff ArenA.

John Lammers's men opened the scoring through Jizz Hornkamp before two goals from Brian Brobbey and further strikes from Steven Berghuis and Kristian Hlynsson turned the game on its head.

With 19 points picked up from as many matches this term, the Heraclieden sit 15th in the standings, four points clear of the bottom zone.

Ahead of a crunch relegation clash against Vitesse seven days later, Saturday's visitors now go in search of a morale-boosting result this weekend.

Team News

Eighteen-year-old Diego van Oorschot is out of action with a broken leg which has seen him fail to feature since the second week of October.

Heracles will also have to make do with the absence of German duo Anas Ouahim and Lasse Wehmeyer, who are sidelined through knee and muscle injuries respectively.

Dutchman Bas Dost will not be playing any part for NEC Nijmegen in this weekend's contest as he continues to battle with a heart problem.

Brayann Pereira and Kas de Wit are also unavailable for the home side, with the latter still awaiting his first appearance of the season.

NEC possible starting lineup:
Cillessen; Verdonk, Nuytinck, Sandler, Van Rooy; Hoedemakers, Proper; Hansen, Mattsson, Sano; Ogawa

Heracles possible starting lineup:
Brouwer; Wieckhoff, Bultman, Cestic, Hoogma, Willems; Bruijn, Vejinovic, De Keersmaecker, Hansson; Hornkamp

We say: NEC 3-1 Heracles

Heracles have conceded the most goals of any Eredivisie team this season, and we can see them enduring another defensive collapse here en route to a disappointing defeat in the end.


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