Groningen vs Sparta Rotterdam - prediction, team news, lineups

FC Groningen big Sparta Rotterdam successful the Eredivisie astatine Euroborg connected Sunday.

The hosts beryllium eighth successful the Eredivisie table with 15 points, six places and six points supra 14th-placed Sparta. However, Dick Lukkien's broadside get connected the backmost of a 2-0 location decision to second-tier FC Emmen successful the KNVB Cup connected Thursday.

Match preview

De Trots van het Noorden person taken 15 points from 10 league games, winning four, drafting 3 and losing three, with 24 goals scored and 21 conceded.

Brynjolfur Willumsson scored successful the 11th and 34th minutes of the 2-2 gully astatine NEC connected October 25, against the nine of his older member Willum, and his 8 league goals successful 10 appearances permission him level with Go Ahead Eagles' Soren Tengstedt astatine the apical of the scoring charts.

Thom van Bergen has six league goals of his own, truthful the 2 forwards relationship for 14 of Groningen's 24.

Groningen led that crippled 2-0 astatine fractional time, but NEC came backmost aft the interruption done Clement Bischoff and Noe Lebreton, and Lukkien was near unhappy with the draw.

The league defeats person been heavy, with a 5-1 nonaccomplishment astatine PSV Eindhoven connected August 23, a 3-2 location decision to Fortuna Sittard connected August 28 and a 5-2 location decision to Ajax connected October 18, and Groningen person kept lone 1 cleanable sheet, successful a 3-0 triumph implicit PEC Zwolle.

The cupful exit added to the temper astir the club, arsenic Jack Cooper-Love scored successful the 10th infinitesimal and again 10 minutes into the 2nd half, some times connected the counter, and the Euroborg assemblage whistled the squad off.

Lukkien said helium was ashamed of the show but promised a effect against Sparta, and his broadside person scored 11 goals successful 5 location league games, though they person besides conceded 11 astatine Euroborg.

The head-to-head offers small comfort, arsenic Sparta person won each of the past 3 league meetings, 1-0 connected February 2, 2025 and 2-0 connected some October 19, 2025 and January 31, 2026, with Groningen failing to people each time.

De Kasteelheren are 14th with 9 points from 10 matches, having won twice, drawn 3 times and mislaid five, and they person not kept a cleanable expanse each season.

Their 24 goals conceded see a 4-1 decision astatine PSV connected September 13 and a 4-0 location nonaccomplishment to Heerenveen six days later, a occupation Rogier Meijer has yet to lick since replacing Maurice Steijn successful the summer.

A 3-3 gully astatine Go Ahead Eagles connected October 10 and a 3-2 location triumph implicit bottommost nine Willem II a week aboriginal ended a tally of six league games without a victory.

Sparta past mislaid 2-1 astatine location to Ajax connected October 25, erstwhile Jens Toornstra's 43rd-minute equaliser was answered by Tolu's extremity successful first-half stoppage time.

Toornstra, aged 37, made his 500th Eredivisie quality successful that game, yet Meijer near him and Bruno Martins Indi retired of the starting XI for Wednesday's cupful necktie to negociate their workload, and Fortuna Sittard won the punishment shootout astatine Het Kasteel.

Meijer has said Sparta indispensable commencement winning the matches they are expected to win, and their distant grounds of 1 win, 1 gully and 2 defeats from 4 includes goals successful each game, with 8 scored and 10 conceded.

Groningen Eredivisie form:

Groningen signifier (all competitions):

Sparta Rotterdam Eredivisie form:

Sparta Rotterdam signifier (all competitions):

Team News

Elvis van der Laan, Tyrique Mercera and Ryan Metu are each unavailable, and Travis Hernes is expected to miss retired aft going disconnected wounded soon aft coming connected against Emmen, with infirmary tests inactive to amusement the grade of his injury.

Etienne Vaessen is disposable successful goal, Marco Rente and Hans Hateboer were brought connected astatine fractional clip against Emmen successful spot of Wouter Prins and Mark Csinger, and the brace are expected to instrumentality to the XI that drew astatine NEC.

For the visitors, Shunsuke Mito is expected to instrumentality aft missing enactment since September, and helium scored some goals successful the 2-0 triumph implicit Groningen astatine Het Kasteel connected January 31.

Max de Ligt is injured, portion Mitchell van Bergen is disposable aft coming disconnected the seat against Ajax, and Martins Indi and Toornstra should instrumentality to the XI aft being rested successful midweek.

Groningen imaginable starting lineup:

Vaessen; Hateboer, Blokzijl, Csinger, Rente; De Jonge, Clement; Schreuders, Van Bergen, Van der Werff; Willumsson

Sparta Rotterdam imaginable starting lineup:

Brouwer; Martes, Young, Verschuren, Martins Indi, Kuipers; Van Cruijsen, Toornstra, Hatenboer, Babadi; Zonneveld

We say: Groningen 3-1 Sparta Rotterdam

Sparta person conceded successful each 10 league games and are shipping 2.4 goals per match, which suits a Groningen onslaught that has scored 24 times and is led by the 14 goals of Willumsson and Van Bergen.

Groningen besides support loosely, having conceded 9 successful their past 5 league games, and Mito's instrumentality gives Sparta a mode to score, truthful a extremity for the visitors is likely.

A location broadside stung by the Emmen decision and by the blown 2-0 half-time pb astatine NEC should beryllium sharper than they were connected Thursday, and that borderline successful intent is wherefore we expect Groningen to triumph by 2 goals.

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