Three very important points are up for grabs on Sunday afternoon when SBV Excelsior and Sparta Rotterdam lock horns at Van Donge & De Roo Stadion.
The home side head into the clash off the back of five losses in six matches, while their visitors will be aiming to avoid a third consecutive defeat.
Match preview
Sparta Rotterdam were beaten in a home league game for the first time since August courtesy of a 3-0 defeat against FC Utrecht at Sparta Stadion Het Kasteel on Friday.
Following a relatively uneventful opening 45 minutes, goals from Victor Jensen, Othman Boussaid and Anthony Descotte put Maurice Steijn's men to the sword.
As a result, De Kasteelheren remain seventh in the Eredivisie table, five points clear of the chasing pack in the race for the final European spot.
Coming up next is the challenge of an opposing outfit who have lost each of the last two meetings between the teams, albeit boasting a general record in this fixture overall.
Having picked up just one away win in five matches across all competitions in 2023, Sunday's visitors will be eager to turn their fortunes around on enemy territory.
Excelsior fell to a second straight 3-0 loss as they were comprehensively beaten by Groningen in the sides' encounter at Euroborg on Saturday.
Marinus Dijkhuizen's men fell behind to Johan Hove's 13th-minute opener before second-half strikes from Ricardo Pepi and Liam van Gelderen sealed the deal.
With 20 points picked up from their 23 matches so far, the Kralingers sit 15th in the standings and are now just two points clear of relegation danger.
Currently with the second-fewest goals scored on home turf, Sunday's hosts will need to get going at the attacking end of the pitch to stand a good chance of emerging victorious this weekend.
Team News
Kik Pierie, Vicente Besuijen and Yassine Ayoub are unavailable for Excelsior through muscle injuries, while Jacky Donkor remains sidelined with a knee problem.
Maxime Awoudja is also out of contention for the hosts as the Germany international is set to miss a third game on the bounce due to a knock.
Sparta's Adil Auassar is suspended for Sunday's contest after the midfielder received his marching orders in the defeat to Utrecht last time out.
This should see 22-year-old Mike Eerdhuijzen come into the XI for what would be only a third starting appearance of the season and a first since September.
SBV Excelsior possible starting lineup:
Van Gassel; Tjoe, Seymor, Nieuwpoort, Horemans; Koopmeiners, Baas; Lamprou, Naujoks, Azarkan; Agrafiotis
Sparta Rotterdam possible starting lineup:
Olij; Pinto, Vriends, Eerdhuijzen, Sambo; Kitolano, De Guzman; Van Crooy, Verscheren, Saito; Lauritsen
We say: SBV Excelsior 0-1 Sparta Rotterdam
Both teams have struggled in front of goal of late, so we expect a low-scoring affair here. Having said that, we are also backing the away side to narrowly come out on top at the end of the 90 minutes.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
