Preview: FC Utrecht vs. Emmen - prediction, team news, lineups

Fresh from picking up their first league win of the season, Emmen travel to the Stadion Galgenwaard to take on FC Utrecht on Saturday.

The hosts are in search of a league double over their visitors, who they defeated 3-2 in December's reverse fixture.

Match preview

Utrecht come into this one off the back of their biggest league win of the campaign to date following a 6-0 demolition of Willem II on Friday.

They flew out of the blocks in next to no time, storming to a 3-0 lead inside the opening 20 minutes, and they did not take their foot off the gas until the final whistle.

Rene Hake's men have now won five of their last six games, and only Ajax have bettered their tally of 16 points in that time.

As a result of that run, the Domstedelingen are in seventh place at the moment, five points behind sixth-placed Groningen having played a game less.

Saturday's hosts have had mixed results in games against Emmen since the latter gained promotion to the Eredivisie three years ago, with the last four meetings yielding two wins apiece.

However, they will be confident of securing all three points this time around given their current form which has given them an outside chance of a return to European football.

After 22 unsuccessful attempts, Emmen finally picked up their first league triumph of the season courtesy of a 3-2 victory over PEC Zwolle on Saturday.

Jari Vlak was the star of the show, recording a goal and an assist as his side put an end to one of the longest winless streaks in the competition's history.

However, Dick Lukkien's men are still 13 points from safety and with just 11 games remaining, they are faced with an uphill task of beating the drop.

Notwithstanding, Saturday's visitors have shown with their performances in recent weeks that they will not be going down without a fight, so they will be fired up for this one in a quest to record consecutive league wins for the first time in almost two years.

FC Utrecht Eredivisie form: WWWDWW

Emmen Eredivisie form: DLLLLW

Team News

Utrecht's Fabian De Keijzer has been sidelined since September with a shoulder injury, and he will not take part in this one.

Justin Hoogma will also be unavailable for the hosts as he works his way back to full fitness, following his recovery from a knee injury.

After two weeks out, Caner Cavlan made his return to action against Zwolle, and he is expected to retain his place in the side for the match.

Marko Kolar was only fit enough for a place on the bench in the aforementioned game, but he could be given the nod right from the off this time.

Lentini Caciano and Luciano Carty are still a long way short of making their comebacks from injury, as they continue to battle with ankle and knee injuries respectively.

FC Utrecht possible starting lineup:
Oelschlagel; Warmerdam, Janssen, St Jago, Ter Avest; Maher, Boussaid, Van Overeem; Ramselaar, Van De Streek, Kerk

Emmen possible starting lineup:
Verrips; Araujo, Bakker, Clavan, Bijl; Bernadou, Vlak, Pena; Ben Moussa, Avdijaj, De Leeuw

We say: FC Utrecht 2-0 Emmen

Emmen will be feeling a lot better about themselves in the aftermath of that victory last time out, but we expect a vastly superior and more in-form Utrecht side to come out victorious in this one.