Go Ahead Eagles will wrap up their first season back in the Eredivisie on Sunday when they travel to Abe Lenstra Stadion to face SC Heerenveen.
The Super Frisians are two points ahead of the club from Deventer for ninth in the table after dropping a 5-0 decision to the champions Ajax.
Match preview
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For a team who have finished around the same position in the Dutch top flight for the past few seasons, having a chance to finish in the top half of the table is a sign of progress.
Since Ole Tobiasen took over in early 2022, they have played with a lot more structure and confidence, which has shown in most of their games.
They have not lost consecutive fixtures since March, which Tobiasen will undoubtedly emphasize to his players as they face a side that they were able to shut out 1-0 back in August.
Last week may have been the lowest point of their season and easily the worst performance under their Danish coach as they only fired five total shots, while conceding five goals in a match for the first time since a 5-1 defeat to DeGraafschap in August 2020.
While not the most potent of sides in the Dutch top-flight, they have fared well in the final third on their home ground, unbeaten in their previous four matches, scoring three goals in each of their last two home outings.
The newly promoted Go Ahead Eagles have had an encouraging return to the Eredivisie after finishing second in the 2020-21 Eerste Divisie to earn promotion into the top flight.
While the results of late have not gone the way Kees van Wonderen and his team would have hoped for, dropping four straight contests by a single goal, this group should feel encouraged with the campaign that they have put forward.
They have struggled to maintain their composure in the latter stages of fixtures recently, conceding a match-winning goal beyond the 70th minute in their previous three league encounters.
In this campaign, they made the semi-finals of the KNVB Cup, narrowly losing 2-1 to PSV, and they are one of only three teams to upset the mighty Ajax domestically this season, stunning them 2-1 back in February.
Scoring away from home has been an issue for them of late, having been shut out in three of their previous four road contests.
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Team News
Pawel Bochniewicz is out for Heerenveen due to a torn ACL, Joost van Aken has a groin strain, and Nick Bakker will likely be on the sidelines for an unknown injury.
Goalkeeper Erwin Mulder is tied for seventh in the league in clean sheets with five, Amin Sarr leads them in goals this season (five), including a brace in their 2-1 victory over Vitesse earlier this month and Thom Haye leads them in assists with four, while Tibor Halilovic scored the only goal in their win over Go Ahead Eagles earlier this season.
Joris Kramer is out for Go Ahead Eagles with an unknown injury, Frank Ross continues to miss time for personal reasons and Cuco Martina is doubtful due to an illness.
Inigo Cordoba has nine goals for them in this campaign, Philippe Rommens leads them with three assists, one more than Ragnar Oratmangoen, while goalkeeper Andries Noppert made five stops when his team defeated Heerenveen 1-0 in the Round of 16 of the KNVB Cup.
Heerenveen possible starting lineup:
Mulder; Woudenberg, Dresevic, Van Beek; Kaib, De Jong, Halilovic, Haye, Van Ewijk; Sarr, Musaba
Go Ahead Eagles possible starting lineup:
Noppert; Lucassen, Nauber, Idzes, Kuipers; Deijl, Rommens, Brouwers, Oratmangoen; Cardona, Cordoba
We say: Heerenveen 2-1 Go Ahead Eagles
These teams are evenly matched and have put together some solid defensive performances this season, with both being involved in several tight games.
That 5-0 defeat against the Dutch champions will not sit well with Tobiasen and his side, so we expect them to come out more determined on Sunday against a side who tend to get overwhelmed late in matches when a game is close.
For additional data used by our team to analyse our suggested result please click here.
