Having lost each of their last eight games across all competitions, Willem II play host to NEC at the Koning Willem II Stadion in round 18 of the Eredivisie on Wednesday.
The visitors, meanwhile, head into the game fresh off the back of an impressive win over Go Ahead Eagles and will be looking to pick up a third consecutive victory for the second time this season.
Match preview
After a solid start to the season, where they picked up 16 points from their opening seven games, Willem II appear to have run out of steam and find themselves in a steady decline.
They have lost each of their last eight games on the spin across all competitions, while they are without a win in 11 consecutive outings, stretching back to September's 2-1 win over PSV.
A lack of sturdiness at the defensive end of the pitch has been a cause of their struggles as they boast the division's poorest record with 35 goals conceded, while their luck at the opposite end of the pitch has not been any better of late after scoring just four goals in their last eight outings.
Willem II head into Wednesday's game fresh off the back of a humbling 4-1 defeat at the hands of AZ Alkmaar at the AFAS Stadion.
In that encounter, after Dani De Wit and Elton Kabangu netted for either side to end the first half level, Willem II collapsed at the back once again as the hosts scored three goals in the final 15 minutes of the game.
While Fred Grim's men will be aiming to end this horrid spell, next up is an opposing side who they have failed to defeat in any of the last 12 meetings between the teams, claiming five draws and losing eight in that time.
Meanwhile, NEC made it two wins from two last time out when they saw off Go Ahead Eagles 2-0 at the De Adelaarshorst Stadium.
Despite seeing less than 40% of the ball possession, Elayis Tavsan put the visitors ahead in the 29th minute before Jordy Bruijn made no mistake from 12 yards to double the lead eight minutes later.
This followed a 2-1 win over Cambuur at the Cambuur-Stadion which saw them progress to the quarter-finals of the Dutch cup and also end their run of five straight games without a win.
Rogier Meijer will now hope those victories can serve as a catalyst for a fine run of form as they look to strengthen their position in the top half of the table and move into the Conference League playoff places.
With 22 points from 17 games, NEC are currently 10th in the Eredivisie standings, four points and three places above Wednesday's hosts, and six points behind Utrecht in the final Conference League playoff spot.
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Team News
Grim will be unable to call upon the services of the Dutch duo of Freek Heerkens and Wesley Spieringhs, who are recuperating from knee injuries.
Willem II will have to make do with the absence of Swedish defender Emil Bergstrom, who sustained an injury against Sparta Rotterdam on November 6.
Robbin Ruiter is also out of contention for after the goalkeeper picked up a shoulder problem back in August, while Nikolaos Michelis will serve his suspension for receiving his marching orders in the game against AZ last time out.
NEC have a host of injury concerns in midfield as the likes of Jonathan Okita, Mathias de Wolf and Joep van der Sluijs all continue their spells on the sidelines.
Rens van Eijden and Edgar Barreto will also sit out the game as they are currently recuperating from knee and muscle problems respectively.
Willem II possible starting lineup:
Wellenreuther; Owusu, Jenssen, Michelis, Kohn; Saddiki, Llonch; Saglam, Kohlert, Nunnely; Okyere Wriedt
NEC possible starting lineup:
Branderhorst; Guth, Marquez, Odenthal; Van Rooij, Schone, Proper, El Karouani; Tavsan, Bruijn, Mattsson
We say: Willem II 0-2 NEC
NEC appear to have steadied their ship after struggling for form in recent weeks. They head into the game with more momentum after picking up a second straight win last time out and we predict they will claim all three points, heaping more misery on the floundering hosts.
Top tip
Joshua Ojele
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 Willem II win with a probability of 39.85%. A win for NEC had a probability of 34.91% and a draw had a probability of 25.2%.
The most likely scoreline for a Willem II win was 1-0 with a probability of 8.85%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (8.66%) and 2-0 (6.43%). The likeliest NEC win was 0-1 (8.19%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (11.9%). The actual scoreline of 0-1 was predicted with an 8.2% likelihood. Our team at Sports Mole correctly predicted that NEC would win this match.
