http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Alex-c4752 Pastoor’s side would be gunning to better their home record, when they take on Jan Wouters’ men on Saturday.
In the 14th round of the Dutch top flight football, NEC Nijmegen will lock horns against FC Utrecht at McDOS Goffertstadion on Saturday, November 24.
NEC Nijmegen
The Nijmegen outfit are heading into the game on the back of a resounding 4-1 defeat at the hands of http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Vitesse-c40905 Arnhem on November 18. In spite of taking the lead in the third minute through Melvin Platje, NEC failed to dominate the game throughout the 90 minutes.
Wilfried Bony levelled the score-line in the 11th minute, while http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Mike-Havenaar-c25700 completed
an impressive 4-1 victory when he added his name to the score-sheet four minutes before the full time whistle.
Occupying the seventh spot on the Eredivisie table, NEC have performed erratically in front of their home crowd. However, their showings on the road have remained impressive thus far. They have an overall record of 13 played, 5 won, 4 drawn and 4 lost.
Alex Pastoor, the Nijmegen outfit boss, is brimming with confidence ahead of his side’s upcoming league tie, and is hopeful that his troops will manage to bag all three points.
http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/FC-Utrecht-c39237
The Utreg recorded a hard fought but a fortunate 1-1 stalemate in their last league game against http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Jacob-Mulenga-c17488 own goal in the 17th
minute restored parity. Both sides tried to score the winner, but failed to find the target until the full time whistle.
Sitting at the sixth spot in the league standings, the outfit from Utrecht have thus far staged better show on the road as compared to their performances at home. They have an overall record of 13 played, 6 won, 4 drawn and 3 lost.
The Utreg head coach, Jan Wouters, has urged his troops to put in their 100 percent in the upcoming encounter if they are to claim a good result.
Head-to-Head statistics
In the last five head-to-head meetings between FC Utrecht and NEC Nijmegen, the Utrecht outfit managed to emerge victorious on two occasions. http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/NEC-c40018 claimed all three points in one game, while the remaining two matches ended in stalemates.
Players to watch
Ryan Koolwijk – NEC Nijmegen
The 27-year-old has been performing impressively since the start of the ongoing 2012/13 season. Netting four goals while setting up three more in 13 league games, the Dutchman would be keen to add more to his tally in the upcoming encounter, and help his
side claim all three points.
Jacob Mulenga – FC Utrecht
The Zambian attacker has thus far scored five goals while providing an assist as well in 11 games, playing a major role in helping his side secure maximum points. It will not be an easy task for the home side’s defence to keep the 28-year-old quiet throughout
the 90 minutes.
Prediction
It will be a hard fought game between the two evenly matched teams. Although, both sides would be keen to bag all three points, it seems like that the two have to share points at the end.
Predicted score-line: NEC 2-2 FC Utrecht.
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