Preview: Heracles vs. Cambuur - prediction, team news, lineups

Fresh off the back of ending their five-game losing streak, Heracles play host to Cambuur on Wednesday at the Erve Asito Stadium in round 18 of the Eredivisie.

The visitors, meanwhile, head into the game on a two-game losing streak and will be aiming to end this dry spell and move in the Conference League playoff places.

Match preview

Heracles returned to winning ways in the Eredivisie last Saturday when they claimed a thrilling 4-2 victory over a resilient Groningen side on home turf.

Bilal Basacikoglu and Nikolai Laursen scored to cancel out Jorgen Strand Larsen's ninth-minute opener and hand the hosts a 2-1 lead heading into the break, and after Romano Postema levelled matters in the 78th minute, Orestis Kiomourtzoglou restored Heracles' lead nine minutes later before Neraysho Kasanwirjo scored an own goal to double the lead.

Prior to that, Frank Wormuth's side were on a run of five consecutive defeats across all competitions, including a 4-1 defeat at the hands of AZ Alkmaar in the last 16 of the Dutch cup

Heracles have now managed just two wins from their last 10 league outings and this poor run of results has seen them drop to 14th place in the Eredivisie table, four points above Fortuna Sittard in the relegation playoff spot.

Their woeful performance away from home has been a major source of concern for the Heraclieden, who are yet to pick up an away win this term and boast the league's second-worst record with just one point from eight games.

While Heracles will seek to use the win last time out for a catalyst for a fine run of form, next up is an opposing side who they have failed to defeat in six of the last eight encounters between the teams, losing five and claiming one draw.

Meanwhile, Cambuur fell to successive defeats for the first time since October last time out when they were beaten 2-1 by Heerenveen.

In a one-sided affair at the Cambuur-Stadion Stadium, Henk Veerman put on a stellar individual performance as he netted either side of Roberts Uldrikis's 30th-minute equaliser to hand the visitors all three points.

Prior to that, Pascal Bosschaart's men saw their KNVB beker campaign come to an end as they fell to a similar 2-1 defeat at the hands of NEC when the sides met last Thursday.

Cambuur have now lost three of their last four games in all competitions, with a 3-1 win over Willem II on December 10 being the only exception and this has been down to their recent defensive struggles as they have shipped 11 goals in that time.

With 27 points from 17 games, Wednesday's visitors are currently eighth on the log, one point off FC Utrecht in the final Conference League playoff spot.

Team News

Wormuth has several injuries to contend with down the spine of his Heracles squad as the midfield duo of Delano Burgzorg and Kasper Jakobsen continue their spells on the sidelines.

Belgian forward Ismail Azzaoui is set to miss his fifth consecutive game after sustaining a knee injury against Feyenoord on December 1.

Twenty-six-year-old midfielder Rai Vloet, who has three goals under his belt so far, is also out of contention following his accident back in November.

Meanwhile, David Sambissa remains the only injury concern for the visitors after the Gabonese defender sustained a heavy knock in November's game against Utrecht.

Twenty-nine-year-old Duke Schmidt will also play no part in Wednesday's game after receiving his marching orders against Heerenveen last time out.

Heracles possible starting lineup:
Blaswich; Quagliata, Knoester, Rente, Bakboord; De La Torre, Kioumourtzoglou, Sierhuis; Laursen, Sierra, Bakis

Cambuur possible starting lineup:
Stevens; Schmidt, Mac-Intosch, Schouten, Bangura; Tol, Jacobs, Maulun, Doodeman, Kallon; Uldrikis

We say: Heracles 1-2 Cambuur

Looking at past encounters and results between the two sides, we can expect an exciting and action-packed contest. The visitors have won each of their last four games on the road and we predict they will keep this fine form going and come out victorious on Wednesday.

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