Looking to avoid three-straight defeats across all competitions, SBV Excelsior will welcome Heerenveen to Van Donge & De Roo Stadion for an Eredivisie clash on Friday night.
The Kranlingers are sweating over their first-tier status following a poor start to the calendar year, while the visitors are aiming to end their worrying winless streak.
Match preview
Excelsior's less-than-ideal start to 2024 continued on Tuesday night as they were knocked out of the KNVB Cup at the round-of-16 stage by second-tier outfit Groningen, with Romano Postema bagging a brilliant brace in Rotterdam to send the underdogs through to the quarter-finals later in the campaign.
Last weekend saw the Kralingers return to Eredivisie action after Christmas and New Year's celebrations, but there was little to party about during their visit to flawless league leaders PSV Eindhoven, who recorded a 3-1 success thanks to a stunning hat-trick from Luuk de Jong.
After a record-breaking start to the league campaign which saw them inside the European places, Excelsior have gone 10 matches without tasting victory in the Eredivisie, meaning Marinus Dijkhuizen's men have fallen down to 15th in the league standings, just three points above RKC Waalwijk in 16th.
The Kralingers' form at their Rotterdam base has been quite odd this term, with SBV winning just one of their eight Eredivisie matches in front of their home faithful, although they have only lost two at the Van Donge & De Roo Stadion, with only PSV, champions Feyenoord and FC Twente losing fewer home contests to date.
Following a relatively uninspiring loan spell at Ryan Lowe's Preston North End in the Championship last campaign, Tottenham Hotspur youngster Troy Parrott is currently leading Excelsior's goalscoring charts alongside Nikolas Agrafiotis, with the pair managing five Eredivisie strikes each.
Heerenveen halted a three-game losing run across all competitions with a share of the spoils at MAC Park Stadion last weekend with PEC Zwolle, although the visitors were extremely close to kick-starting their 2024 by putting another damaging defeat on their 2023-24 record.
Netting only his second goal of the league term, midfielder Anas Tahiri held his nerve from 12 yards to put the Super Frisians ahead but goals from Younes Namli and German poacher Lennart Thy sprung the hosts into a second-half lead, but substitute Che Nunnely was on hand to score a 91st-minute equaliser.
Collecting their first points since December 1 last time out, Heerenveen currently occupy ninth place in the Eredivisie table after 17 games, just two points behind NEC in the lowest of the Europa Conference League playoff positions, meaning a hunt for continental football next season is on the cards for Friday's visitors.
If the standings were purely based on away results, Kees van Wonderen's side would be nervously looking over their shoulder at the relegation zone, with the Super Frisians collecting just seven points on their Eredivisie travels - only Vitesse, FC Volendam and Fortuna Sittard have managed fewer.
The reverse fixture between these two sides in September produced Heerenveen's heaviest home defeat of the 2023-24 season so far, with Couhaib Driouech, Agrafiotis and Tottenham loanee Parrott all breaching the net of Andries Noppert to secure a comfortable 3-0 win for Excelsior at Abe Lenstra Stadion.
Team News
Excelsior are set to be without the services of midfielder Lennard Hartjes on Friday night, with the 20-year-old recovering from a long-term knee injury sustained in August.
Fellow midfielder Adrian Fein has not featured in a Kralingers squad since October owing to an illness, meaning Dijkhuizen's options in the middle of the park are limited.
Serano Seymor continues to take up a place in the hosts' medical room because of a foot injury, with the Dutchman last playing in the goalless draw with Vitesse on October 7.
Heerenveen are without second-choice right-back Hussein Ali for Friday night's clash in Rotterdam, as the 21-year-old is on Asian Cup duty with Iraq in Qatar.
After picking up his fourth yellow card of the campaign in the draw with Zwolle, Mats Kohlert will sit out of this one, meaning Denzel Hall could deputise at left-back.
SBV Excelsior possible starting lineup:
Alblas; Horemans, Benita, El Yaakoubi, Zagre; Baas, Goudmijn, Parrott, Lamprou, Driouech; Agrafiotis
Heerenveen possible starting lineup:
Noppert; Braude, Van Beek, Bochniewicz, Hall; Tahiri, Haye, Nunnely, Brouwers, Olsson; Van Amersfoort
We say: SBV Excelsior 1-1 Heerenveen
Excelsior will be low on confidence following their exit of the KNVB Cup at the hands of second-tier side Groningen in their last fixture.
Heerenveen battled back to earn a point at Zwolle last time out, and we are expecting the same result for the visitors on Friday night in Rotterdam.
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