Feyenoord will be out to extend their impressive run of results in the Eredivisie this weekend, when they head to Asito Stadion to take on Heracles on Saturday afternoon.
The race for the Champions League qualifiers spot is red-hot with Feyenoord and Utrecht level on 62 points each, but De Stadionclub have a game in hand on the Domstedelingen.
Match preview
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With Utrecht not scheduled for Eredivisie action this weekend, Feyenoord will have the chance to reestablish their three-point advantage over the Cupfighters with a win here, and will also pull within two points of PSV, who play Fortuna Sittard later in the night.
De club aan de Maas will enter this match with excellent momentum, following a thumping 4-0 win over PEC Zwolle last weekend, which was their sixth win in a row and 10th match unbeaten in the top flight.
Ayase Ueda and Antoni Milambo gave Robin van Persie's side a two-goal lead inside the first 25 minutes against PEC, and Igor Paixao bagged a brace on either side of the break, taking his tally for the season to 14, the joint-second-most in the league behind Sem Steijn.
In addition, that result improved van Persie's record to six victories in seven matches since taking charge, making him the first Feyenoord manager to achieve that feat since Bert van Marwijk during his second spell at the club in 2007.
The visitors are also unbeaten in their last four away games, including three consecutive wins ahead of this one, and they will be confident in their chances of extending that record, having beaten this opponent 5-2 in the reverse fixture back in December.
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Meanwhile, after finishing just four points above the relegation playoff spot last season, Heracles are having a better campaign this time around, and a single point in this match will guarantee their top-flight survival for a second consecutive season.
However, HAFC are coming into this match following one of their biggest defeats of the season, losing 4-1 to Groningen last week, with only Thomas Bruns managing to find the net for them in the match.
That result ended Erwin van de Looi's side's four-match unbeaten run, which included draws against Heerenveen and RKC Waalwijk and two very impressive wins over top-half opposition, Twente and AZ.
Notably, both those victories came here at Asito Stadium, where the team is riding a four-match win streak and are unbeaten in their last 10 league games, while their only defeats at this venue this season were against high-flyers Ajax and PSV.
Team News
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After receiving their fifth yellow cards of the season last week, Jizz Hornkamp and Thomas Bruns will be forced to sit out this weekend due to suspension, which should see Luka Kulenovic return to the starting lineup in attack.
Heracles are also expected to be missing at least four players through injury, including Sava Cestic (ankle), Nikolai Laursen (knee), Jordy Bruijn (knock) and Justin Hoogma (muscle).
For the visitors, Gernot Trauner was shown his fifth yellow of the campaign in the victory over PEC Zwolle the last time out, which will likely result in Thomas Beelen being brought into central defence alongside David Hancko.
Feyenoord also have a lengthy list of injury absentees, which includes the likes of Jordan Lotomba, Chris-Kevin Nadje, Justin Bijlow, Bart Nieuwkoop and Calvin Stengs.
Heracles possible starting lineup:
De Keijzer; Wieckhoff, Mirani, Mesik, Rots; De Keersmaecker, Scheperman; Engels, Zamburek, Podgoreanu; Kulenovic
Feyenoord possible starting lineup:
Wellenreuther; Read, Beelen, Hancko, Bueno; Hwang, Moder, Milambo; Moussa, Ueda, Paixao
We say: Heracles 1-2 Feyenoord
While Heracles have been excellent at home this season, conceding only two defeats in 15 games, they will be without their two first-choice attackers for this game in Jizz Hornkamp and Thomas Bruns.
Feyenoord, meanwhile, have a laundry list of injury absentees, yet they have been rattling off wins almost with ease under the guidance of Robin van Persie, and we feel they will come out on top in this one as well.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Devesh Jaganath
