Moving nearer to the top teams is the subject when these two mid-table teams duel. Both are trying to improve their league status, FC Utrecht in 8th and NEC in 10th position.
- NEC have the fewest matches over the total-line (1) in Eredivisie
Both teams should be fairly well rested for this game, as they have had some quiet days to prepare. Hopefully this will translate into lots of action on the pitch.
FC Utrecht form and stats
FC Utrecht have collected 4 points from their Eredivisie home games so far after 1-1-1.
FC Utrecht's previous game was also played at home, ending 1-0 versus Vitesse (placed 14th). The home side are looking to build on that result. Goalkeeper Barkas got the top rating on the team in that game; 7.91 out of ten. Barkas topped it up with a clean sheet.
Before that match, a win away at Fortuna Sittard.The betting market estimate that the home team has about 55-60% chance of winning this match. There could be betting value if you think differently, so to help you here are the stats from Utrecht's earlier matches at home being 55%-60% favourite: Played 6 games, won 3 matches, drawn 2 and lost 1.
FC Utrecht have scored 1 goal here in 3 league matches, a depressing statistic. From these home matches, Utrecht have conceded only 2 goals.
NEC form and stats
NEC are doing rather OK so far in their away games in the Eredivisie, having played 3 games and collected 5 points (1 win, 2 draws and 0 losses). NEC has showed their ability to avoid defeat with four draws in a row, but are also dodging victories. They last avoided the draw 33 days ago, in the FC Volendam fixture.
NEC's last game ended in a draw, the home match versus Fortuna Sittard that finished 1-1. The draw against Fortuna Sittard came from a losing position. The NEC manager Meijer brought on Marques as a substitute and the player scored to make the scores level. Tannane got a match rating of 8.65 in that game, top player of the team. Tannane hit seven key passes, dribled past the opponent 3 of 5 times and had 42 successful passes (of 52 total).
Preceding that game, the 0-0 draw paying a visit to SC Heerenveen.Looking at the earlier recent performances of NEC when being an outsider away as they are today, we find 4 matches with the visitors losing 3 times, drawing 1 and winning 0 games.
NEC are not goal shy away from home in the league, finding the net 5 times in 3 away games so far. It's not easy to score on NEC as they have only conceded 2 goals from these away games.
Head 2 Head
Utrecht have not lost in the last 5 games (4-1-0) versus NEC.Top Goalscorers
  B. Dost 5 goals |  A. Douvikas 4 goals |   I. Márquez Álvarez 1 goals |
FC Utrecht missing players
NEC missing players
| FC Utrecht | NEC | ||||||
| Total | Home | vs | Statistics | Stat | vs | Away | Total |
| 6 | 3 | 0 | Played | P | 0 | 3 | 6 |
| 2 | 1 | 0 | Won | W | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 2 | 1 | 0 | Drew | D | 0 | 2 | 4 |
| 2 | 1 | 0 | Lost | L | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 9 | 1 | 0 | Scored | S | 0 | 5 | 7 |
| 10 | 2 | 0 | Conceded | C | 0 | 2 | 5 |
| 83% | 67% | 0% | Over 0.5 | O 0.5 | 0% | 67% | 83% |
| 67% | 33% | 0% | Over 1.5 | O 1.5 | 0% | 67% | 67% |
| 50% | 0% | 0% | Over 2.5 | O 2.5 | 0% | 33% | 17% |
| 50% | 0% | 0% | Over 3.5 | O 3.5 | 0% | 33% | 17% |
| 33% | 0% | 0% | Over 4.5 | O 4.5 | 0% | 33% | 17% |
| 50% | 0% | 0% | BTTS | BTTS | 0% | 67% | 67% |
| 33% | 67% | 0% | Clean Sheets | C S | 0% | 33% | 17% |
| 33% | 67% | 0% | Failed to Score | F T | 0% | 33% | 33% |
| 6.8 | 6.7 | 0 | Corners for (avg) | C F | 0 | 4.7 | 6.7 |
| 5.5 | 6 | 0 | Corners against (avg) | C A | 0 | 5 | 5.7 |
| 1.2 | 1.7 | 0 | Yellow cards (avg) | Y C | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 0 | 0 | 0 | Red cards | R C | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 13 | 10.3 | 0 | Shots (avg) | S ( | 0 | 9.7 | 13 |
| 4.8 | 4 | 0 | Shots on Target (avg) | S O | 0 | 3.7 | 4.8 |
| 31% | 8% | 0% | Goal Efficiency | G E | 0% | 45% | 24% |
| 13.7 | 14.3 | 0 | Shots against (avg) | S A | 0 | 19.7 | 15.8 |
| 6.3 | 7 | 0 | Shots on Target against (avg) | S O | 0 | 6.7 | 5.3 |
- NEC have not yet lost a game away.
- NEC have the fewest matches over the total-line (1) in Eredivisie
- NEC have the most matches under the total-line (5) in Eredivisie
- NEC have won significantly less corners away then at home.
| Total | Home | Away | |||||||||||||||||||
| # | Team | MP | W | D | L | F | A | MP | W | D | L | F | A | MP | W | D | L | F | A | +/- | P |
| 1 | Ajax | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 21 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 2 | 18 | 18 |
| 2 | Feyenoord | 6 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 17 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 5 | 12 | 16 |
| 3 | PSV | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 24 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 12 | 5 | 17 | 15 |
| 4 | AZ | 6 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 11 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 2 | 7 | 14 |
| 5 | FC Twente | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 11 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 8 | 13 |
| 6 | SC Heerenveen | 6 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 9 |
| 7 | Excelsior | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 10 | 17 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 8 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 9 | -7 | 9 |
| 8 | FC Utrecht | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 9 | 10 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 8 | -1 | 8 |
| 9 | FC Groningen | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 10 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 7 | -4 | 8 |
| 10 | NEC | 6 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 7 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 7 |
| 11 | Sparta Rotterdam | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 7 | 7 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 7 |
| 12 | RKC Waalwijk | 6 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 10 | 9 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 6 |
| 13 | SC Cambuur | 6 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 9 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 5 | -5 | 4 |
| 14 | Vitesse | 6 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 6 | 15 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 11 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 | -9 | 4 |
| 15 | FC Emmen | 6 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 6 | 16 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 10 | -10 | 4 |
| 16 | FC Volendam | 6 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 7 | 20 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 13 | -13 | 4 |
| 17 | Go Ahead Eagles | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 8 | 15 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 10 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 5 | -7 | 3 |
| 18 | Fortuna Sittard | 6 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 8 | 17 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 11 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 6 | -9 | 1 |
