Sparta Rotterdam will be looking to continue their late-season push up the Eredivisie standings this weekend when they host Heerenveen at Sparta-Stadion Het Kasteel on Saturday.
The hosts moved up to 12th place with 31 points last weekend, while the visitors' matchday 28 victory took them into the top eight and Conference League playoff contention.
Match preview
© Imago
After only managing 20 points from their first 23 games this season, Sparta Rotterdam fans were fearing the worst, with their team facing relegation for the first time since 2018-19.
The club opted to part ways with Jeroen Rijsdijk at the start of November, with Maurice Steijn being brought in to lead the team to safety, but his tenure got off to a terrible start, suffering four defeats on the bounce and having to wait eight games until his first taste of victory.
However, all of that changed since the February international break, with De Kasteelheren now unbeaten in their last five league games (W3 D2), and 12 points above the automatic relegation spots.
Last week, Sparta notched up a 2-0 victory at home against NEC, with Nokkvi Thorisson doubling their advantage after a Robin Roefs own-goal - a result that marked the first time the team kept back-to-back clean sheets this season.
The hosts are also enjoying a solid run of home form, unbeaten in their last five matches (W3 D2 L1), while they have shut out opponents in three of the last four games during this period.
© Imago
Meanwhile, Heerenveen are having a progressive season in the top flight, now on 34 points after 28 games, just three points behind their tally across the entire of last season with six games still to play.
Following the departure of Robin van Persie to Feyenoord, De Superfriezen experienced a notable dip in form, picking up just one win in four games since the start of March (W1 D1 L2).
However, after losing his first game in charge against Utrecht after the international break, Robin Veldman got his first win for his new employers last weekend, beating Willem II 3-1 on the road.
The next task for the new boss will be to find a way to improve his side's away form, as they are winless in their last four league games on the road (D1 L3) and have lost 11 of their 14 outings to date, which is the worst away record in the division.
Team News
© Imago
Sparta were dealt an injury blow in their victory over NEC last week, with Mitchell van Bergen limping off in the first half, which should result in Joel Ideho taking his place in the three-man attack this week.
Jonathan De Guzman has missed the last two games with a knock and is a doubt this weekend, but Joshua Kitolano, who missed a chunk of the season through injury, could return to the starting lineup, having featured off the bench in both games since the March international break.
Heerenveen, on the other hand, have one long-term injury absentee in the form of Pawel Bochniewicz, who has not featured since December due to a knee injury and is not expected to return to action this season.
Jacob Trenskow featured off the bench last week after shaking off a knock that kept him on the sidelines since late January, and he will be in contention to make the starting lineup this weekend.
Sparta Rotterdam possible starting lineup:
Olij; Bakari, Young, Eerdhuijzen, Van Aanholt; Hlynsson, Zechiel, Eiting; Mito, Lauritsen, Ideho
Heerenveen possible starting lineup:
Noppert; Braude, Kersten, Hopland, Koehlert; Linday, Brouwers; Sebaoui, Smans, Jahanbakhsh; Nicolaescu
We say: Sparta Rotterdam 2-1 Heerenveen
While Heerenveen are enjoying a progressive campaign, their away record has been dismal this season, which does not bode well for their chances here against a Sparta side that is unbeaten in their last five home games.
The hosts have the third-best record in the top flight over the last five matchdays, only behind Ajax and Feyenoord, and we feel they will be able to edge the visitors to a win in this one.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Devesh Jaganath
