Preview: Groningen vs. SBV Excelsior - prediction, team news, lineups

The hosts are without a win in 2023, while their visitors have won just two of nine matches across all competitions since the turn of the year.

Match preview

Groningen had to settle for a share of the spoils in their encounter against FC Emmen on Saturday evening which ended in a thrilling 1-1 stalemate.

Dennis van der Ree's men opened the scoring through Ricardo Pepi 12 minutes in before Miguel Araujo restored parity with a lovely strike barely 90 seconds later.

While Trots van het Noorden remain 16th in the Eredivisie table, they have now moved to within two points of safety ahead of a crunch relegation six-pointer.

Awaiting them next is the task of facing off against an opposing outfit who have come out on top in only one of the last five meetings between the teams.

However, that solitary victory did come in the most recent clash back in January when Saturday's hosts fell to a narrow 1-0 defeat off the back of four straight wins in this fixture.

Excelsior were beaten for the second game running courtesy of a 3-0 thrashing against NEC Nijmegen at Van Donge & De Roo Stadion on Sunday.

Marinus Dijkhuizen's men fell behind on the stroke of half time to Magnus Mattsson's opener after which second-half goals from Souffian El Karouani and Anthony Musaba sealed the deal.

Having picked up 20 points from their 22 matches this term, The Kralingers sit just above the drop zone and a defeat this weekend would see them slide into the bottom three.

Currently on a run of five straight defeats on the road by a combined score of 11-1, Saturday's visitors have it all to do as they look to turn their away fortunes around.

Groningen Eredivisie form:

L

L

L

D

L

D

SBV Excelsior Eredivisie form:

W

L

L

D

L

L

Team News

Groningen's Mads Bech Sorensen remains unavailable for selection due to a broken hand, and the goalkeeper will not play any part on Saturday.

The midfield duo of Laros Duarte and Nordin Musampa also miss out for the hosts as they continue to nurse knee and muscle injuries respectively.

Following his opener against Groningen, Ricardo Pepi has now directly contributed to 11 of his side's 22 goals so far, making him one to keep an eye on.

Excelsior's Redouan el Yaakoubi is ineligible to feature in this one after he received his marching orders for two bookable offences last time out.

The away side will also be without Kik Pierie and Yassine Ayoub through muscle injuries, while Jacky Donkor is yet to make an appearance this year because of a knee problem.

Groningen possible starting lineup:

Verrips; Dybvik, Balker, Blokzijl, Van Gelderen; Hove, Oratmangoen, Suslov; Irandust, Pepi, Manu

SBV Excelsior possible starting lineup:

Van Gassel; Horemans, Nieuwpoort, Markelo, Tjoe; Baas, Koopmeiners; Azarkan, Goudmijn, Lamprou; Kharchouch

We say: Groningen 2-1 SBV Excelsior

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