RKC Waalwijk and FC Utrecht go head-to-head at the Mandemakers Stadion on Saturday in their respective opening fixtures of the 2022-23 Eredivisie season.
Both teams enjoyed decent campaigns last time out, with the visitors securing a seventh-place finish while their hosts finished three spots below in 10th.
Match preview
Utrecht played out a 2-2 draw against Ukrainian outfit Shakhtar Donetsk in their final pre-season friendly at the Stadion Galgenwaard on Saturday.
Henk Fraser's men took the lead early on through Daishawn Redan, but the game was turned on its head by strikes from Artem Bondarenko and Dmytro Krysiv before Sergiy Kryvtsov ensured parity at the end of the 90 minutes.
The Domstedelingen have now claimed just two wins from their eight warm-up matches for the upcoming campaign, and that is not an encouraging sign.
Awaiting them next is a clash versus an opposing side who are looking to end a four-game winless run in this fixture since a 2-1 victory in March 2020.
Having won just one of their most recent nine matches on the road, Saturday's visitors will be keen to improve their fortunes away from home.
RKC Waalwijk were held to a third consecutive share of the spoils following a 1-1 stalemate against SC Cambuur on Saturday evening.
Joseph Oosting's men opened the scoring through Lennerd Daneels in the 39th minute but failed to even make it to half time with their lead, as Milan Smit levelled matters on the eve of the interval.
Consequently, Waalwijk have now wrapped up their pre-season campaign with a four-game winless streak and one victory in five matches overall.
However, with three victories and one draw in their four home involvements, Saturday's hosts still have reason to believe that they come away with a positive result.
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Team News
The trio of Tommy St Jago, Bart Ramselaar and Reda Akmum are all sidelined with knee injuries and will not be available for Utrecht this weekend.
Fabian De Keijzer is also ruled out for the visitors through a thigh problem, while Ramon Hendriks still faces an extended spell on the treatment table due to a cruciate ligament rupture.
Lennerd Daneels will be aiming to extend his goal-scoring streak to three matches, making the Waalwijk forward one to keep an eye on here.
Thirty-three-year-old Michiel Kramer was on target in the most recent encounter involving Saturday's opponents and he will be looking to deliver the good once again.
RKC Waalwijk possible starting lineup:
Vaessen; Adewoye, Gaari, Van den Buijs; Bel Hassani, Lelieveld, Lutonda, Oukili, Vroegh; Daneels, Kramer
FC Utrecht possible starting lineup:
Barkas; Booth, Sagnan, Ter Avest, Van der Hoorn; Van der Kust, Brouwers, Viergever; Boussaid, Douvikas, Redan
We say: RKC Waalwijk 1-2 FC Utrecht
Utrecht have enjoyed the better of this fixture of late, and while we expect Waalwijk to put up a good fight, we fancy the away side get the job done come the sound of the final whistle.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
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