The 2024-25 Eredivisie season reaches its midway point in round 17 which pits Almere City against Heerenveen at the Yanmar Stadion on Saturday evening.
The teams are on a contrasting run of results heading into this one, with the home side seeking to avoid an eighth loss on the bounce, while the away side go in search of a fourth straight triumph.
Match preview
Almere City have fallen into a downward spiral over the last couple of weeks and are showing no semblance of a renaissance, so the upcoming festive break could hardly have come at a better time for them.
A comprehensive 3-0 defeat to Ajax last time out saw Hedwiges Maduro's men lose a 12th league game in 16 outings to leave the 39-year-old under immense pressure to retain his managerial seat heading into the new year.
Picking up just six points from a possible 48, De Zwarte Schapen remain rooted to the bottom of the Eredivisie table, a whopping eight points adrift of safety already with the fewest goals scored (seven) and the second-most conceded (37).
With half of the campaign left to claw themselves out of the drop zone, Almere City have more than enough time to get back on track but will need a high level of resilience to turn things around from here on out.
Games against Heerenveen have rarely brought glad tidings for Saturday's hosts, who have managed just one victory from the previous seven editions of this fixture, although they did amass four points across both of last season's two league meetings.
Heerenveen claimed a third straight win by a one-goal margin as they just about scraped past lower league opposition ASWH when the teams locked horns in Wednesday's KNVB Beker meeting at Sportpark Schildman.
Ion Nicolaescu was the match-winner for Robin van Persie's men once again, as his opening goal five minutes shy of the half-time whistle proved enough to settle a largely one-sided affair in Hendrik-Ido-Ambacht.
While De Superfriezen are still yet to turn on the style in front of goal, their defensive solidity has formed the platform for recent results with just two goals let in across the last four matches across all competitions.
Sitting a healthy nine points clear of the drop zone, Heerenveen are now only one point shy of European football contention and have steadied the ship following a rough spell between mid-September and late October.
Despite being known predominantly for their solid home form this term, Saturday's visitors have been flying on the road of late and now go in search of win number three in a row on enemy territory for the first time in over two years.
Team News
Almere City's Baptiste Guillaume has been unavailable for selection since early October with a foot injury and remains out of contention this weekend.
After missing four games through injury, Alejandro Carbonell was fit enough to be named on the bench last time out, but it remains to be seen if he will play any part here.
Pawel Bochniewicz is currently down with a knee problem and is not fit enough to play any part for Heerenveen, while Jacob Trenskow continues his battle with a foot problem.
The away side are also expected to be without the services of 26-year-old Mats Kohlert, who is, however, not far off a return to action, having sat out five games in a row.
Ion Nicolaescu has found the back of the net in three games on the bounce, and the Romania international will be looking to deliver the goods once again.
Almere City possible starting lineup:
Bakker; Zagaritis, Lawrence, Jacobs, Akujobi; Kadile, Tahiri, Van de Kamp, Providence; Nalic, Providence
Heerenveen possible starting lineup:
Van der Hart; Hall, Kersten, Hopland, Braude; Van Ee, Brouwers; Jahanbakhsh, Smans, Sebaoui; Rallis
We say: Almere City 0-2 Heerenveen
Almere City cannot buy a win at the moment, and we are expecting them to come away empty-handed once again with Heerenveen cruising to a routine win at the end of the 90 minutes.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
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