Preview: Sparta Rotterdam vs. NEC - prediction, team news, lineups

The home side are looking to make it two straight wins, having emerged victorious against Emmen last time out.

Match preview

Indeed, Sparta Rotterdam were impressive in their last outing, 3-1 victors courtesy of late goals from Bart Vriends and Mario Engels.

Also getting in on the act was Vito van Crooij, with the forward scoring the first goal and providing an assist, continuing his very impressive start to the season, notching five goals so far.

The result saw them rise to sixth in the Eredivisie standings, inside the Europa Conference League playoff positions and six points behind city-rivals Feyenoord.

Now on a run of three consecutive home wins, Maurice Steijn's side have only really faltered against the division's top sides at the Sparta Stadion so far this season, losing 3-2 to AZ Alkmaar and 1-0 to Ajax.

Elsewhere, their form has been promising, thrashing FC Volendam 4-0 at the start of September, while also edging to a 2-1 win over Groningen later in the month.

Another victory on Sunday could move the home side up to fifth, and put some much-wanted space between them and the other sides vying for the European places in the process.

NEC's start to the season has been bizarre to say the least, currently on a run of seven consecutive draws, positioning them 10th in the Eredivisie standings.

This record is made up of five 1-1 draws and two stalemates, indicating that Nijmegen's problem this season has been scoring goals, rather than their aptitude in defence, with the side having the joint-best defensive record in the league.

That seems to be the case, considering only four Eredivisie teams have a worse goal return than Rogier Meijer's side at this stage, having scored just nine in their opening nine games.

Also of note is that four of these goals came in one game alone, in a 4-1 victory over FC Volendam in August, so goals have been a real issue in almost every match this season.

Last time out, it looked like Nijmegen were finally going to put their run of draws to an end, leading 1-0 against SBV Excelsior until very late on, before Lazaros Lamprou notched an 88th-minute equaliser to ensure that the spoils were once again shared.

Sparta Rotterdam Eredivisie form:

W

W

L

W

D

W

NEC Eredivisie form:

D

D

D

D

D

D

Team News

Shurandy Sambo received a red card in Sparta Rotterdam's 2-2 draw at Waalwijk, and will be unavailable for selection as he serves the last game of his ban.

Having played a 4-3-3 formation in the victory against Emmen, Steijn's side are likely to stick by this system, with the ever-creative van Crooij on the left of a three-pronged attack.

Stalwart Jonathan de Guzman has played a part in every match this season and is almost certain to be chosen in central-midfield, although he is yet to finish a game and will likely make way for Joshua Kitolano at some point.

Joris Kramer and Jordy Bruijn are close to returning for NEC, both now in a position where they may get some minutes on Sunday.

There is likely to be no such luck for long-term absentee Philippe Sandler however, who is yet to start a game for his new club after picking up a hamstring injury before the season began.

Defender Ivan Marquez has been ever-present for Roger Meijer's side this season, and he is poised to get the nod at centre-back, alongside Calvin Verdonk.

Sparta Rotterdam possible starting lineup:

Olij; Pinto, Auassar, Vriends, Abels; Verschueren, Mijnans, de Guzman; van Crooij, Namli, Lauritsen

NEC possible starting lineup:

Cillessen; van Rooij, Marquez, Verdonk, El Karouani; Proper, Tannane, Schone; Mattsson, Tavsan, Dimata

We say: Sparta Rotterdam 1-1 NEC

NEC have been on a remarkable run of draws recently, and we expect it to continue for at least another game. Despite Sparta Rotterdam's good recent form at home, Nijmegen have been able to keep it tight at the back and frustrate teams, which they are likely to do again on Sunday.

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