Two teams in need of a victory for very different reasons go head-to-head at the Abe Lenstra Stadion on Saturday night, as Heerenveen prepare for the visit of SBV Excelsior.

For the away side, exacting revenge on their hosts will also be on the agenda this weekend off the back of a 1-0 defeat in this season's reverse fixture back in November.

Match preview

Heerenveen snapped a run of two consecutive defeats with a thrilling 3-2 victory over NEC Nijmegen in Saturday's encounter at Stadion de Goffert.

Kees van Wonderen's men opened the scoring through Thom Haye but soon found themselves behind following strikes from Magnus Mattsson and Landry Dimata, after which Sydney van Hooijdonk and Antoine Colassin struck late to turn the game on its head.

As a result, De Superfriezen have moved up to ninth place in the Eredivisie table, level on points with RKC Waalwijk in the race for the final European spot.

Awaiting them next is the challenge of an opposing outfit who are winless in the last six meetings between the teams, suffering four defeats in that time.

Currently on a run of just one victory in eight home matches leading up to Saturday's contest, the hosts will need to turn things around in front of their fans.

Excelsior suffered a first home defeat since March as they were beaten 2-0 by league leaders Feyenoord at Van Donge & De Roo Stadion on Sunday afternoon.

Marinus Dijkhuizen's men fell behind to Santiago Gimenez's ninth-minute opener before Gimenez grabbed his second of the game 15 minutes from time to seal the deal.

A tally of 28 points from their 31 matches so far leaves the Kralingers 16th in the standings and currently in the relegation zone, albeit only on goal difference.

Having conceded a whopping 42 away goals across 15 outings this term, Sunday's visitors will need to tighten up at the back to stand any chance of coming away with a positive result here.

Team News

Vicente Besuijen remains unavailable for Excelsior as he continues to battle with a muscle injury, while Nathan Markelo is still yet to recuperate from a knock.

Jacky Donkor is without an appearance in 2023 due to a long-term knee injury, and the Belgian is joined on the sidelines by 24-year-old Adrian Fein.

Heerenveen's Andries Noppert is still out of contention through a hip injury which has seen him fail to feature since the final week of January.

Sven van Beek and Joost van Aken also miss out for the hosts through Achilles and knee problems respectively, and they are joined on the treatment table by Timo Zaal.

Sydney van Hooijdonk grabbed his 16th league goal of the campaign last time out, which saw him move level with Anastasios Douvikas at the top of the scoring chart.

Heerenveen possible starting lineup:
Mous; Kohlert, Bochniewicz, Van Ottele, Van Ewijk; Tahiri, Haye; Sahraoui, Van Amersfoort, Olsson; Van Hooijdonk

SBV Excelsior possible starting lineup:
Van Gassel; Horemans, Nieuwpoort, El Yaakoubi, Pierie, Zagre; Driouech, Koopmeiners, Baas, Goudmijn; Azarkan

We say: Heerenveen 2-1 SBV Excelsior

Heerenveen will surely fancy their chances of grabbing a couple of goals against an Excelsior side with the worst defensive record in the entire division. We are tipping the hosts to come out on top at the end of the 90 minutes.


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