Securing a third straight victory will be the major target for in-form Go Ahead Eagles and Feyenoord as they prepare to face off at De Adelaarshorst on Saturday evening.
The teams are neck and neck in the Eredivisie table heading into this weekend's encounter, where both of them will fancy their chances of coming away with all three points.
Match preview
Feyenoord gathered some much-needed momentum just before the international break courtesy of three wins from their last four matches across all competitions since a humiliating 4-0 defeat to Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League.
Brian Priske's men defeated newly promoted NAC Breda and Girona either side of a 1-1 draw against NEC before narrowly seeing off the threat of FC Twente thanks to a 2-1 triumph at De Kuip on October 6.
First-half goals from Ayase Ueda and Hwang In-Beom put De Stadionclub in the driving seat before midfielder Sem Steijn set up a thrilling finale by halving the deficit 10 minutes from the end of normal time.
Despite Feyenoord's recent resurgence, their early-season struggles have already left them trailing current champions PSV Eindhoven by a whopping 11 points at the top of the standings, albeit with a game in hand.
It is highly unlikely the Rotterdam-based outfit will mount a proper title challenge as things stand, but they will be keen to string together a decent run of results to revive both their domestic and continental campaigns off the back of a mixed start.
Saturday's visitors have won eight straight matches against the hosts dating back to 2017, including a pair of 3-1 victories in both meetings last season en route to a third consecutive league double in as many years.
Go Ahead Eagles lost three of their opening four matches this season during which their hopes of securing continental football came to an end after a 2-1 aggregate defeat to Norwegian outfit SK Brann in the Conference League playoffs.
Still shaken by their European disappointment, Paul Simonis's men took some time to get going in the league, where they managed just one win from the first four outings, but things have since taken an upward trajectory.
The pride of the IJssel Kowet are currently unbeaten in four league outings, picking up 10 points from a possible 12 in that time and propelling themselves to seventh in the table, behind Feyenoord only on goal difference.
Despite their poor record against this weekend's opponents, Go Ahead Eagles certainly have cause for optimism off the back of their best performance of the season so far in a comprehensive 4-1 thrashing of Heracles.
Saturday's hosts exhibited great powers of recovery to come back from a goal down courtesy of a second-half clinic which saw Gerrit Nauber, Mats Deijl, Victor Edvardsen and Finn Stokkers all get on the scoresheet.
Team News
For the fourth straight game, Go Ahead Eagles' Dean James is not expected to take to the field as he works his way back up to full fitness from a muscle injury.
However, midfielder Robbin Weijenberg is back available for the away side after missing two straight games with a knock prior to his eight-minute cameo last time out.
Dutch duo Quilindschy Hartman and Calvin Stengs are both unavailable with knee problems, and neither of them will play any part for Feyenoord in this weekend's affair.
The away side will also be without the services of Santiago Gimenez (thigh) and Bart Nieuwkoop (leg), although the former is drawing increasingly closer to a return to action.
In Gimenez's absence, Japan international Ayase Ueda should get the nod to lead the line once again and will be looking to add to his two league goals this term.
Go Ahead Eagles possible starting lineup:
Plogmann; Deijl, Nauber, Kramer, Adelgaard; Linthorst, Llansana; Adekanye, Breum, Antman; Edvardsen
Feyenoord possible starting lineup:
Wellenreuther; Lotomba, Beelen, Hancko, Bueno; Timber, Hwang, Milambo; Osman, Ueda, Paixao
We say: Go Ahead Eagles 1-2 Feyenoord
Feyenoord's dominance of this fixture means that it is hard to envisage any other outcome than a win for them against a Go Ahead Eagles side who should pose a stern test to their visitors nonetheless.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
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