Eredivisie newcomers SBV Excelsior welcome Emmen to the Van Donge & De Roo Stadion on Saturday aiming to avoid a fourth consecutive loss.

Meanwhile, the away side also head into this weekend's clash in need of a lift having suffered defeat in each of their last two matches.

Match preview

Excelsior were comprehensively thrashed 5-2 by RKC Waalwijk when the sides went head-to-head at the Mandemakers Stadion on Sunday morning.

Marinus Dijkhuizen's men took 1-0 and 2-1 leads through Julian Baas and Redouan el Yaakoubi but were pegged back on either occasion by Shawn Adewoye and Pelle Clement before goals from Thierry Lutonda, Vurnon Anita and Michiel Kramer completed the turnaround.

Consequently, the Kralingers have dropped down to 10th place in the league table but are currently outside the top half only on goal difference.

Next up is the challenge of an opposing outfit who have only emerged victorious in one of the last five meetings between the teams since December 2013.

However, that solitary win in the aforementioned time frame did come in the most recent encounter back in January, when Saturday's hosts fell to a narrow 1-0 defeat.

Emmen failed to pick up back to back home wins for the first time this term following a 3-0 defeat at the hands of AZ Alkmaar on Sunday.

Dick Lukkien's men conceded first-half goals to Jens Odgaard, Dani De Wit and Tijjani Reijnders, which proved to be the difference at De Oude Meerdijk.

Having amassed four points from five games so far, the Drenthe-based side are 15th in the Eredivisie standings, outside the relegation zone only on goal difference.

Off the back of five away defeats in a row, Saturday's visitors will be eager to avoid coming away empty-handed from another outing on the road.

Team News

Nikolas Agrafiotis is absent for Excelsior due to a muscle injury which has seen him miss each of the last 10 matches on the bounce.

Twenty-year-old Julian Baas came off the bench to directly contribute to two goals last time out and he could be rewarded with a place in the starting XI here.

Emmen's duo of Kyan van Dorp and Mart Lieder are both down with long-term knee injuries, with the latter yet to feature since the end of February.

Metehan Guclu will have to wait a little bit longer for his debut for the away side as the Turk continues to battle with a knee injury.

SBV Excelsior possible starting lineup:
Oelschlagel; Hardeveld, Veldmate, Araujo, Veendorp; Bernadou, Vlak; Romeny, Diemers, Mendes; Zivkovic

Emmen possible starting lineup:
Van Gassel; Tjoe, El Yaakoubi, Nieuwpoort, Horemans; Ayoub, Fein; Driouech, Goudmijn, Baas; Van Duinen

We say: SBV Excelsior 0-1 Emmen

There is little to choose between the sides in this one, and Saturday's meeting could easily swing either way. That said, we are backing the visitors to just about see off the threat of their hosts and get the job done.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.

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