Unbeaten in five league games, RKC Waalwijk welcome FC Utrecht to the Mandemakers Stadion on Saturday looking to pull further away from the drop zone.
Meanwhile, Utrecht just had their six-game unbeaten run ended last time out, and they will want to bounce back as quickly as possible.
Match preview
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RKC were unsuccessful in their hunt for a third league win in a row as they were held to a 0-0 draw by ADO Den Haag at the Cars Jeans Stadion on Saturday.
Fred Grim's men had an opportunity to put some daylight between themselves and their opponents on the day, but they were unable to do so.
They recorded a third clean sheet on the bounce, and that newly-found defensive solidity has been crucial for them in picking up seven points from the last nine available.
That point gained at Den Haag has taken them six clear of danger, but there is still work to be done in order to secure their top-flight status.
Saturday's hosts have won each of the last three meetings between the sides on home turf, but they were victims of a 3-1 defeat when the sides met in September's reverse fixture.
Utrecht provided what was probably the most shocking result of the last gameweek, losing 1-0 at home to bottom club Emmen on Saturday.
Rene Hake's men amassed 15 of the 18 available points prior to that, and that has seen them rise to eighth place in the Eredivisie table.
However, they are currently eight points adrift of sixth place, where they finished last season, and repeating that feat would take some doing from hereon in.
RKC Waalwijk Eredivisie form: LDDWDD
FC Utrecht Eredivisie form: WWDWWL
Team News
Morad El Haddouti is unfit to play due to an ankle injury which he picked up in November when he was beginning to make his mark.
Utrecht's Fabian de Keijzer and Justin Hoogma have been sidelined with shoulder and knee injuries, and neither of them will feature in this one.
Greek forward James Efmorfidis has been involved in only seven league games to date as he continues to battle with a torn ligament.
Emil Bergstrom made his return to action with a 10-minute cameo off the bench last time out after spending the last 10 weeks out due to a hamstring problem.
Eljero Elia is still unavailable for the away side having not made an appearance since January owing to a thigh problem that he sustained.
RKC Waalwijk possible starting lineup:
Lamprou; Quasten, Touba, Meulensteen, Bakari; Azhil, Van Der Venne, Tahiri; Oosting, Stokkers, Daneels
FC Utrecht possible starting lineup:
Oelschlagel; Warmerdam, Janssen, St Jago, Ter Avest; Maher, Boussaid, Van Overeem; Ramselaar, Van De Streek, Kerk
We say: RKC Waalwijk 1-2 FC Utrecht
Both teams have been in good form coming into this, so it should be an entertaining contest to watch. The away side seem to have more about themselves and as a result, we fancy them to narrowly win this one.
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 49.4%. A win for RKC Waalwijk had a probability of 28.15% and a draw had a probability of 22.5%.
The most likely scoreline for a FC Utrecht win was 1-2 with a probability of 9.38%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 0-1 (7.26%) and 0-2 (6.82%). The likeliest RKC Waalwijk win was 2-1 (6.85%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (9.97%). The actual scoreline of 1-2 was predicted with a 9.4% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted a 1-2 win for FC Utrecht in this match.
