Saturday's jam-packed schedule in the Eredivisie will get underway with Fortuna Sittard playing host to top-three hopefuls Feyenoord at Fortuna Sittard Stadion.
While the reverse fixture between these sides ended in a 1-1 draw, that result extended the visitors' unbeaten run against this opponent to 10 games dating back to October 2019.
Match preview
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Fortuna Sittard are in the midst of a mighty tussle in the race for a top eight finish, currently on 33 points, just one behind Heerenveen, who leapfrogged them in the standings last weekend.
However, ninth place may still be enough for Fortunezen to secure a European playoff berth, though they will need the winner of the KNVB Beker final between AZ Alkmaar and Go Ahead Eagles to finish outside the top four for an additional playoff spot to be awarded.
Danny Buijs's side avoided a third consecutive league defeat last weekend, when they pulled off a dramatic late comeback with Rodrigo Guth scoring in stoppage time to earn a draw on the road against Twente.
The hosts will now need to bring that same type of fighting spirit into this match back on their home patch, where they have lost four of their last five league games and failed to score in three of those defeats.
However, as mentioned, FSC have not beaten this opponent in their last 10 attempts and have only scored seven goals during that period, while Feyenoord struck the back of the net 22 times.
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Meanwhile, Feyenoord enter this match off the back of a hard-fought battle against AZ Alkmaar last week, where an own goal by Zico Buurmeester handed them their 16th league win of the season.
While the result was a tad fortuitous, it was De Stadionclub's seventh game unbeaten and fourth league win in a row following victories over Twente, Go Ahead Eagles and Groningen.
Indeed, Robin van Persie has yet to taste defeat in the domestic league competition since his arrival, and his team now hold the longest active win streak in the division, while having also scored the most goals of any side over this period.
After going winless on the road between mid-December and February, the visitors are now unbeaten in their last three outings and hold the fourth-best away record in the league, with 26 points earned in 14 matches (W7 D5 L2).
Team News
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Fortuna Sittard were handed a major injury blow last week against Twente, with attacking midfielder Alen Halilovic sustaining a serious injury to his foot, which will force him to sit out the remainder of the season.
Kristoffer Peterson will also not feature in this match after receiving his fifth yellow of the season against Twente, while Daley Sinkgraven, Onur Demir, Ramazan Bayram and Samuel Bastien are ruled out through injury.
Feyenoord have a fairly lengthy casualty list at present, which includes long-term absentees Jordan Lotomba, Justin Bijlow, Chris-Kevin Nadje, Bart Nieuwkoop and Quinten Timber.
Calvin Stengs and Thomas Beelen are now likely to miss the rest of the campaign with ankle injuries, while Oussama Targhalline and In-beom Hwang are flagged as questionable for this match.
Fortuna Sittard possible starting lineup:
Branderhorst; Pinto, Adewoye, Guth, Dijks; Michut, Fosso; Aiko, Bullaude, Dahlhaus; Sierhuis
Feyenoord possible starting lineup:
Wellenreuther; Read, Trauner, Hancko, Hartman; Smal, Milambo, Moder; Moussa; Ueda, Paixao
We say: Fortuna Sittard 1-2 Feyenoord
Barring last week's 1-0 victory over AZ, Feyenoord have been rampant in front of goal since the arrival of Robin van Persie, and we feel they will be able to outscore their opponents to take all three points this weekend.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Devesh Jaganath
