Looking to move into the top half of the Eredivisie standings, Go Ahead Eagles visit the Gelredome Stadium to square off against Vitesse on Sunday.
The hosts, on the other hand, head into the game in sky-high spirits following their impressive Conference League win and will be looking to keep the juggernaut rolling.
Match preview
Vitesse returned to winning ways in the Conference League when they claimed an impressive 1-0 home win over Tottenham last Thursday.
Following an uneventful first half, German forward Maximilian Wittek came up trumps for the hosts as he netted the only goal of the game in the 78th minute to hand the Premier League side their first defeat of the campaign.
The Geel en Zwart now return to the Eredivisie where they are on a two-game winning streak, claiming an impressive 2-1 victory over Feyenoord before beating NEC Nijmegen 1-0 at the Stadion de Goffert.
With 16 points from nine outings, Vitesse are currently sixth on the log, level on points with Feyenoord and could rise as high as third with a win this weekend.
Go Ahead Eagles, meanwhile, found their feet last time out as they claimed a 4-2 victory over Heracles when the sides squared off at the De Adelaarshorst Stadium.
With the scores level after the interval, an own goal from Mats Knoester and Luuk Brouwers's second strike of the game put the hosts two goals up, and after Marco Rente halved the deficit in the 64th minute, Mats Deijl got off the mark for the season in the 96th minute to restore the pride of the IJssel Kowet's two-goal advantage.
Prior to that, Kees Van Wonderen's men were on a run of four games without a win across all competitions, picking up two wins and two draws since a 1-0 victory over PEC Zwolle on September 19.
After a rough start to the season, Go Ahead Eagles currently find themselves three points above the relegation zone in 13th place after picking up 10 points from their opening nine outings.
Van Wonderen will hope the win over the Heraclieden last time out can serve as a springboard for a fine run of form as they look to move into the top half of the table over the coming weeks.
However, next up is an uphill task of taking on an opposing side who they have failed to defeat in each of the most recent seven meetings between the sides, managing three draws and losing four in that time.
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Team News
Vitesse will take to the pitch without Dutch youngster Million Manhoef after the 19-year-old defender came off with an injury in the Conference League tie versus Stade Rennais on September 30.
Daan Reiziger, who recently completed a switch from Ajax, awaits his competitive debut for the Geel en Zwart after the 20-year-old goalkeeper sustained a shoulder injury back in July's pre-season clash against Sunday's visitors.
Go Ahead Eagles, on the other hand, will be without the services of German defender Gerrit Nauber and Scottish midfielder Frank Ross, who are both recuperating from knee injuries.
They are joined on the club's injury table by Turan Tuzlacik and Martijn Berden, who have been sidelined through leg and hip injuries respectively.
Having both picked up straight reds in the game against Heracles last time out, the duo of Ioannis Foivos Botos and Isac Lidberg will serve the first of a three-game suspension this weekend.
Vitesse possible starting lineup:
Schubert; Doekhi, Bazoer, Rasmussen; Tronstad, Dasa, Tannane, Wittek; Fredericksen, Openda, Darfalou
Go Ahead Eagles possible starting lineup:
Hahn; Kuipers, Kramer, Idzen, Lucassen; Brouwers, Botos, Rommens, Cordoba; Oratmangoen, Cardona
We say: Vitesse 2-1 Go Ahead Eagles
Vitesse are currently in rejuvenated form, claiming three wins from their last three outings, and will be looking to strengthen their position in the upper echelons of the Eredivisie table. They head into the weekend as the more in-form side and we predict they will claim all three points to keep their fine run going.
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 Vitesse win with a probability of 53.05%. A draw had a probability of 24.1% and a win for Go Ahead Eagles had a probability of 22.87%.
The most likely scoreline for a Vitesse win was 1-0 with a probability of 11.16%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (9.7%) and 2-0 (9.46%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (11.44%), while for a Go Ahead Eagles win it was 0-1 (6.76%). The actual scoreline of 1-2 was predicted with a 5.9% likelihood.
