Preview: Groningen vs. Feyenoord - prediction, team news, lineups

It is fourth versus sixth in the Eredivisie table as Groningen host Feyenoord at the Hitachi Capital Mobility Stadium on Sunday.

Both teams are in contention for a return to Europe next season, and a victory for either side here would go a long way towards achieving that.

Match preview

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Feyenoord stopped a run of three straight league defeats with an outstanding 3-1 victory against PSV Eindhoven on Sunday.

Dick Advocaat's men put in what is arguably their best performance of the season against a PSV side who simply couldn't live with them, especially in the first half.

They will now look to complete a league double over Groningen, who they beat 2-0 in the reverse fixture in November courtesy of goals from Lutsharel Geertruida and Steven Berghuis.

De Stadionclub have won 11 of the last 17 games between the sides, so history is clearly on their side heading into the latest chapter of this story.

However, surprisingly, they have not won away at Groningen in four years, so they certainly should not expect a walk in the park.

Groningen were beaten away from home for the second game running, losing 1-0 to Heracles on Saturday in a close affair at the Erve Asito, which was decided by a Delano Burgzorg strike midway through the first half.

Fortunately for Danny Buijs's men, none of the teams within touching distance of them in the Eredivisie table was able to capitalise on their latest defeat, which was their fourth on the road in 10 games.

However, only the current top four teams have picked up more points on home turf than Trots van het Noorden, who will go within a point of Feyenoord should they manage to claim all three points this weekend.

Groningen will, however, be wary of the fact that only Ajax have won more Eredivisie games on the road than Sunday's visitors.

Groningen Eredivisie form: DWDLWL

Feyenoord Eredivisie form: WWLLLW
Feyenoord form (all competitions): WLWLLW

Team News

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Groningen's injury list has piled up in the last month with three more players sidelined alongside Arjen Robben, who has been injured for all but two games of the season.

Azor Matusiwa damaged his knee in his team's 1-0 loss to Vitesse a fortnight ago, and he is ruled out for this one as he continues to recover.

Patrick Joosten is now fit enough to make the bench as he did in the game against ADO Den Haag two Saturdays ago, but Danny Buijs's decision not to include him in the last matchday squad might be an indication that he still has some recovering to do.

For Feyenoord, Justin Bijlow has only just resumed training after a long injury lay off, so it is only normal that he gets eased back in gradually to avoid a relapse of his leg injury.

To that effect, he should be sitting this one out, leaving Nick Marsman with another opportunity to lay a claim for a starting berth.

Groningen possible starting lineup:
Padt; Gudmundsson, Van Hintum, Itakura, Angel Leal; Lundqvist, Van Kaam, Da Cruz; Suslov, Strand Larsen, El Hankouri

Feyenoord possible starting lineup:
Marsman; Geertruida, Spajic, Senesi, Malacia; Toornstra, Fer, Diemers; Berghuis, Jorgensen, Linssen

We say: Groningen 1-2 Feyenoord

Feyenoord have already shown their superiority between the teams in the reverse fixture, and we are backing them to come out victorious once again, securing a second league double in three years.