Separated by five points at the bottom end of the Eredivisie table, NEC and NAC Breda will do battle in the penultimate round of games of the season on Wednesday.
The visitors saw their safety confirmed last weekend, despite suffering a second straight defeat to extend a 13-match unbeaten run, while their hosts are two places better off in 13th spot after a memorable victory last time out.
Match preview
© Imago
NEC return to action on Wednesday aiming to continue an impressive end to their Eredivisie campaign, having enjoyed an upturn in form in recent weeks.
They faced the major threat of a bottom-three finish in the Dutch top flight in mid-March, having only earned 26 points from their first 25 league outings, but Rogier Meijer's side have since added 11 more points to that tally in seven further attempts, winning three of those and only losing two.
The most recent of those losses came away at Heerenveen in late April, before Meijer's men hosted relegation-threatened Willem II and only took an underwhelming share of the spoils from a 1-1 draw thanks to Kento Shiogai's 83rd-minute leveller.
A tough trip to league leaders Ajax then followed on Sunday, and the Nijmegen outfit bounced back in style, dishing out a 3-0 beating to the title-chasers in Amsterdam as Sontje Hansen broke the deadlock on the hour mark and Brayann Pereira and Sami Ouaissa added their names to the scoresheet.
Still sitting 13th in the Eredivisie, but now only trailing three sides by a single point and ninth-placed Fortuna Sittard by two with two games remaining, NEC will bid to make it consecutive wins on Wednesday with the chance to continue their climb towards the top half.
© Imago
Their visitors, meanwhile, head into the final two games of the term aiming to end a long winless run, having seen their safety confirmed at the weekend.
NAC Breda moved into the top half of the Dutch top flight with their eighth league victory of the season in mid-January, sitting on 25 points from 19 games as a result, but they have since failed to add another notch to their wins column in 13 further attempts.
That has triggered a drop all the way down to 15th spot for the Parel van het Zuiden, who have earned just seven points from those 13 outings, most recently taking points from 1-1 draws with Go Ahead Eagles and AZ Alkmaar.
Carl Hoefkens's side have not been able to build on those results, though, and again head into Wednesday's test on the back of consecutive defeats, firstly falling to PEC Zwolle before they visited Fortuna Sittard on Saturday and left empty-handed as Kaj Sierhuis netted the only goal of the game for the hosts in the first half.
Still having seen their top-flight status confirmed for next season, with Willem II having failed to gain ground with two games left to play, NAC Breda will aim to rebuild a degree of confidence ahead of their second straight Eredivisie campaign with an upturn in form in the final two games of the term, starting with a long-awaited return to winning ways on Wednesday.
Team News
© Iconsport
Rogier Meijer should field a similar NEC starting XI from last week's 3-0 away win over Ajax, with Bram Nuytinck, Koki Ogawa and Dirk Propper set to remain sidelined by injuries.
They do have fresh concerns, though, with midfielder Vito van Crooij suspended on Wednesday, while Sontje Hansen and Philippe Sandler will be subject to fitness tests.
In the absence of van Crooij and Ogawa, and if Hansen misses out, Basar Onal and Kento Shiogai may come into the attacking lineup from the outset, while Sami Ouaissa will lend support to a lone striker having managed seven Eredivisie goals so far this term.
NAC Breda will remain without Jan Van den Bergh, Dion Versluis and Boyd Lucassen on Wednesday due to ongoing injury issues.
Leo Sauer and Elias Mar Omarsson will continue to lead the attack, having each netted seven goals this season, four more than any other player in the squad.
Max Balard is a mainstay in the engine room and should again be joined by Kamal Sowah and Clint Leemans in the middle of their 5-3-2 setup.
NEC possible starting lineup:
Roefs; Pereira, Lyratzis, Marquez, Verdonk; Sano, Schone; Onal, Ouaissa, Shiogai; Linssen
NAC Breda possible starting lineup:
Bielica; Valerius, Greiml, Mahmutovic, Kongolo, Kemper; Leemans, Balard, Sowah; Sauer, Omarsson
We say: NEC 2-0 NAC Breda
The visitors are limping towards the end of the season in their winless run with no need to fight for survival, while their hosts will be buoyed by a victory over Ajax and can climb towards the top half, and we back NEC to prevail with home advantage as a result.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Sam Varley
