With the international break now in the rearview mirror, Eredivisie returns this weekend with SBV Excelsior taking on Feyenoord at Van Donge & De Roo Stadion on Saturday afternoon.
Before the break, the hosts slipped to seventh place in the league standings with 15 points, while the visitors are in second place with 29 points, seven behind the current league leader PSV Eindhoven.
Match preview
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After a lowly 15th-placed finish last season, Excelsior opted to maintain faith in Marinus Dijkhuizen, and they made an excellent start to the current campaign, losing only one of their first seven matches and were right on the shoulders of the top four.
However, October and the start of November proved to be a difficult period for the red-blacks, and after drawing 2-2 to Utrecht before the international break, they saw their recent record extended to five matches without a win.
Notably, a trend that has begun to form has been Excelsior's inability to hold on to a lead as three of their last four matches saw them score the first goal, but they were pegged back by the final whistle, with two of those matches ending in defeat.
Dijkhuizen's side come into this match winless in their last two games on home soil as well and are the joint-highest conceding side in the top half of the table with 21 let in over their first 12 matches of the season.
The hosts have lost five of the last six matches against this opponent, including home and away last season when they conceded seven goals across the two matches while scoring just one in return.
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Meanwhile, Feyenoord have only lost one game this season but have already seen the gap to the league leaders extend to seven points, with PSV absolutely flying out the blocks with 12 wins in 12 league matches.
The Pride of South bounced back well from the Champions League disappointment by securing their ninth win of the league campaign by beating AZ Alkmaar 1-0 before the international break, with Quinten Timber scoring the decisive goal in the first half.
That result also marked Feyenoord's first win by a single-goal margin this season, while the other eight victories were all by a margin of two or more goals, and they are now averaging three goals per 90 minutes so far this term.
Feyenoord have taken 13 points from a possible 18 on the road this season, and with a solid record against this opponent, the visitors are heavily fancied to claim another three points in this one.
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Among the long-term absentees for the hosts are Jacky Donkor (knee), Adrian Fein (illness), Lennard Hartjes (knee) and Mike van Duinen (knock).
Serano Seymor has missed the last five matches with a foot injury and is expected to remain on the sideline for a while longer, while Kik Pierie could return from his ankle injury in the next few weeks.
Bart Nieuwkoop is believed to be on his way to recovery after sustaining a head injury and could return to the squad this week, although Arne Slot may not opt to ease him back into action.
Yankuba Minteh's fitness will likely be monitored in the build-up to the match, while Alireza Jahanbakhsh and Lutsharel Geertruida are only expected to return in early December.
SBV Excelsior possible starting lineup:
Van Gassel; Horemans, Widell, Nieuwpoort, Zagre; Fitz-Jim, Baas, Sandra; Driouech, Parrott, Lamprou
Feyenoord possible starting lineup:
Bijlow; Nieuwkoop, Trauner, Hancko, Hartman; Paixao, Timber, Wieffer, Zerrouki; Stengs, Gimenez
We say: SBV Excelsior 1-2 Feyenoord
Matches directly following an international break can sometimes be a little tricky for clubs like Feyenoord, whose players are returning from international duty. However, they will know that they cannot afford any more dropped points and will not have the luxury of resting too many first-team players.
We do not expect this one to be played at a blistering pace, and we feel like the visitors will look to manage this match rather than try to blow away their opponents.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
