Preview: Groningen vs. Heerenveen - prediction, team news, lineups

Looking to bounce back from respective defeats last time out, Groningen and Heerenveen face off at the Hitachi Capital Mobility Stadium on Sunday.

The home side were beaten by 5-2 PSV Eindhoven on August 28, while the visitors fell to a 3-1 loss against AZ Alkmaar the following day.

Match preview

Despite pushing last season's runners-up all the way in the opening 45 minutes, Groningen were ultimately undone in the second half through goals from Eran Zahavi and Bruma.

The game was 3-2 at half time with Cyril Ngonge netting twice for Danny Buijs's men, who conceded to Cody Gakpo and Andre Ramalho either side of a Mo El Hankouri own goal.

Trots van het Noorden missed out on an opportunity to move into the top half of the Eredivisie standings as they remain in 10th place following the defeat.

They will aim to put the result behind them against Groningen, but in the last 17 meetings between the teams, both sides have won five games apiece with seven stalemates in that time.

However, Sunday's hosts did emerge victorious in the latest clash between the outfits, which was a 2-0 triumph in a pre-season friendly back in July.

Heerenveen were guilty of not being able to hold on to a lead as AZ Alkmaar became the latest team to capitalise, hitting back through goals from Vangelis Pavlidis, Aslak Fonn Witry and Dani De Wit after earlier going behind to Henk Veerman's 10th-minute opener.

With six points from the opening three matches, De Superfriezen are in fifth place on the log, three points behind current leaders PSV.

After an opening-day shut out, Sunday's visitors have now let in five goals in the subsequent two outings and currently possess the worst defensive record in the top half.

Team News

Pawel Bochniewicz is ruled out of this weekend's game with a knee problem which he picked up in a pre-season warm-up fixture against Zwolle.

Rami Kaib missed the visitors' defeat to AZ with a jaw injury and the Swedish defender is not expected to play any part in this one either.

Groningen will have to cope with the absence of 19-year-old midfielder Paulos Abraham who has been sidelined since July with an ankle problem.

Radinio Balker is yet to return from a cruciate ligament injury and still awaits his debut for the away side since his summer move from fellow Eredivisie side NEC Nijmegen.

Groningen possible starting lineup:
Leeuwenburgh; Te Wierik, Kasanwirjo, Gudmundsson, El Hankouri, Dammers; Matusiwa, Ngonge, Suslov; Strand Larsen, De Leeuw

Heerenveen possible starting lineup:
Mulder; Kaib, Woudenberg, Van Beek, Van Ewijk; J.Veerman, Halilovic, Kongolo; De Jong, H.Veerman, Stevanovic

We say: Groningen 2-1 Heerenveen

As recent meetings suggest, games between Sunday's opponents are usually tight and either side could end up claiming all three points in this one. Groningen failed to pick up a victory in their last game on home turf, but we are tipping them to do so this time around, albeit by the narrowest of margins.