High-flying Fortuna Sittard return to Eredivisie action this weekend, hosting Telstar at the Fortuna Sittard Stadion on Saturday.

The home side begin this weekend’s round of fixtures in sixth place with 19 points - 10 places and 10 points clear of the visitors.

Match preview

A trip to Feyenoord, who had won three straight meetings between the teams, threatened to end Fortuna’s six-game unbeaten run, especially after Luciano Valente opened the scoring just before the hour mark. However, Shiloh ‘t Zand equalised with four minutes remaining to force a share of the spoils.

While some may argue the point flattered Danny Buijs’s men given their performance, it was a reward for their resilience, a quality they have displayed in abundance since a 5-1 drubbing at the hands of Ajax in mid-September.

Having collected just seven points from a possible 15 in Sittard-Geleen, Fortuna’s return to form still has room for improvement via consistent results at home. A 1-0 win over Excelsior in their last home outing suggests they are moving in the right direction.

Bottom of the league in average ball possession this term (35.7%), Fortuna remain a side best known for their off-the-ball work. They finished second-bottom in this metric last season, only ahead of relegated Heracles.

With each of their next six matches coming against teams currently below them in the table, Fortuna have an opportunity to build a sustained run of positive results and enter the second half of the season well positioned for a European push.

After almost three months, Telstar finally ended their wait for a first victory since beating NEC Nijmegen on the opening weekend, running out emphatic 4-2 winners over FC Utrecht in Sunday’s clash at BUKO Stadion.

The victory came at a crucial time for manager Henk Brugge, who was under increased scrutiny after his side were knocked out of the KNVB Beker first round by lower-league opposition Almere City just four days earlier.

Two points adrift of safety, another Telstar defeat this weekend could pile the pressure back on Brugge and their away record this season has been dismal, with just one win, four points, and four goals scored from five matches on the road.

However, De Witte Leeuwen are unbeaten in their last five trips to the Fortuna Sittard Stadion dating back to August 2014, and will draw confidence from their most recent trip in March, when they cruised to a 4-1 victory.

Facing a side with the best big-chance conversion rate in the division (76.9%), Saturday’s visitors will be wary of conceding too many opportunities, despite boasting a significant advantage in clear-cut chances created (23-10).

Fortuna Sittard Eredivisie form:

Fortuna Sittard form (all competitions):

Telstar Eredivisie form:

Telstar form (all competitions):

Team News

Rodrigo Guth and Lequincio Zeefuik both limped off with injuries in Fortuna’s last outing and are doubtful for Saturday’s clash.

This could open the door for Ivan Marquez and Kristoffer Peterson - both substitutes last time out - to come into the hosts’ starting lineup.

Twenty-one-year-old Gerald Alders has missed Telstar’s last three outings and remains a doubt for this weekend.

Patrick Brouwer and Rui Mendes were also absent against Utrecht, although the former is likely to return to action in Sittard.

Tyrone Owusu has scored five goals and provided one assist in his last five matches for the visitors, making the midfielder one to watch.

Fortuna Sittard possible starting lineup:

Branderhorst; Pinto, Van Ottele, Marquez, Hubner, Dahlhaus; Ihattaren, Descotte, Brittijn, ‘t Zand; Zeefuik

Telstar possible starting lineup:

Koeman Jr; Peersman, Soualhia, Valk, Caschili; Rossen, Ahmed; Demircan, Owusu, Martha; Thorisson

We say: Fortuna Sittard 2-1 Telstar

Fortuna are playing their best football in some time, and that momentum makes them strong favourites to edge an out-of-sorts Telstar side.

We expect the home side to make light work of their visitors and head into the international break on a high.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.