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

On the other hand, the away side set out to return to winning ways having been denied a third consecutive victory across all competitions last time out.

Match preview

Utrecht showed great resolve to see off the threat of Heerenveen in a comeback 2-1 victory at the Abe Lenstra Stadion on Saturday afternoon.

Henk Fraser's men trailed to Sydney Van Hooijdonk's opener but wasted no time in drawing level through Anastasios Douvikas on the stroke of the interval, after which Modibo Sagnan grabbed a 66th-minute winner.

A tally of six points from the last six available has seen the Domstedelingen move up to seventh place in the Eredivisie table, and things are looking up once again.

Their next assignment sees them face off against an opposing outfit who have come out on top in just one of the last 10 clashes between the teams since 2018.

However, that solitary victory did come in the most recent encounter back in March, when Sunday's hosts were on the receiving end of a comprehensive 3-1 defeat.

Fresh off the back of a first league triumph since September, Groningen had to settle for a point in Sunday's meeting against FC Emmen, which ended in a goalless stalemate.

Frank Wormuth's men failed to find the back of the net, but they were also largely untroubled at the other end in what was a fairly even contest at De Oude Meerdijk.

As a result, Trots van het Noorden have moved up to 13th place in the league standings and are now four points clear of the relegation zone after 12 matches.

In their penultimate outing become the World Cup takes centre stage, Sunday's visitors will be looking to continue their recent upturn in form as the season approaches its midway stage.

FC Utrecht Eredivisie form:

D

W

L

L

W

W

FC Utrecht form (all competitions):

Groningen Eredivisie form:

L

L

L

L

W

D

Groningen form (all competitions):

Team News

Utrecht's Dutch quartet of Ramon Hendriks, Django Warmerdam, Nick Viergever and Tommy St Jago are currently sidelined with knee injuries and will not play a part in this one.

The home side will also be without the services of midfielders Mimoun Mahi and Bart Ramselaar, with the latter yet to feature since the second week of April.

Slovakia international Tomas Suslov is set to miss a fourth game on the bounce since coming off in the opening exchanges of Groningen's 3-0 defeat to Twente last month.

Twenty-one-year-old Liam van Gelderen is also unavailable for the visitors, although he is closing in on a return to action from a hamstring problem.

FC Utrecht possible starting lineup:

Barkas; Van der Maarel, Sagnan, Van der Hoorn, Klaiber; Toornstra, Booth, Brouwers, Van de Streek; Douvikas, Redan

Groningen possible starting lineup:

Leeuwenburgh; Dybvik, Balker, Te Wierik, Kasanwirjo; Pelupessy, Duarte; Oratmangoen, Kruger, Ngonge; Pepi

We say: FC Utrecht 2-1 Groningen

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