Perhaps a welcome break from league football as Excelsior & FC Groningen face off to decide who makes it to next stage of the KNVB Beker. All the pre-match information is available here!
The visiting FC Groningen played their last game only three days ago, a Eredivisie match.
Excelsior form and stats
Excelsior have reached this KNVB Beker stage through battling and winning against IJsselmeervogels. Last season their KNVB Beker adventure ended in the quarter-finals.5-2-2 (win-draw-lost) are the Eerste Divisie numbers at home for Excelsior so far this season. The team is doing great wherever they are playing as Excelsior has won four games in a row. The Almere City match was the last time out without a victory.
The Excelsior supporters enjoyed the previous match, watching their team host MVV Maastricht in Eerste Divisie and win 2-1. Midfield player Marouan Azarkan got a match rating of 8.35 in that game, the max score being 10. Azarkan hit four key passes and dribled past the opponent 2 of 4 times.
In the game before, an away victory in the Eerste Divisie match versus Jong AZ with a 2-0 scoreline.The manager Dijkhuizen will start preparations for the next game as soon this is finished, as the hosts are going to FC Dordrecht in only three days.
The Excelsior manager Dijkhuizen has got the team scoring with 21 from 9 home games in the league. 13 goals have been conceded.
FC Groningen form and stats
The traveling awayteam has defeated Helmond Sport in order to reach 2nd round of KNVB Beker. Groningen's mission in KNVB Beker last season failed in the 2nd round.The story so far for the visiting team on their Eredivisie travels is 3 wins, 1 draw and 4 defeats. FC Groningen has recorded two wins in a row in their away matches and hold legitimate hopes of a third one.
Groningen's last game was the home draw against Feyenoord (1-1). Peter Leeuwenburgh was the team player of the game with the player rating of 7.81. The agile goalkeeper Leeuwenburgh stopped the opponent with five saves.
Ahead of that game was the 1-1 draw at home against PEC Zwolle in the Eredivisie.There might be some complaints about the fixture list from the Groningen manager Buijs as the team has another away game coming up in only three days, this time against Heracles Almelo.
The visiting FC Groningen have scored more than one goal per away game in the league so far. The grand total is 11 goals from 8 games. For Groningen, more than two goals on average per game end up in their own net.
Head 2 Head
Head to head totals (for the prior ten meetings): Excelsior won three games, two matches ended in a draw and FC Groningen got five wins. Over 2,5 goals / under 2,5 goals: four / sixTop Goalscorers
  T. Dallinga 24 goals |  R. Niemeijer 7 goals |   C. Ngonge 7 goals |
Excelsior missing players
FC Groningen missing players
| Excelsior | FC Groningen | ||||||
| Total | Home | Statistics | Stat | Away | Total | ||
| 25 | 12 | Played | P | 15 | 25 | ||
| 15 | 5 | Won | W | 6 | 8 | ||
| 2 | 2 | Drew | D | 2 | 9 | ||
| 8 | 5 | Lost | L | 7 | 8 | ||
| 56 | 21 | Scored | S | 21 | 32 | ||
| 32 | 18 | Conceded | C | 24 | 30 | ||
| 100% | 100% | Over 0.5 | O 0.5 | 100% | 92% | ||
| 84% | 75% | Over 1.5 | O 1.5 | 73% | 72% | ||
| 68% | 67% | Over 2.5 | O 2.5 | 60% | 40% | ||
| 36% | 25% | Over 3.5 | O 3.5 | 27% | 20% | ||
| 28% | 17% | Over 4.5 | O 4.5 | 27% | 16% | ||
| 48% | 50% | BTTS | BTTS | 60% | 56% | ||
| 32% | 17% | Clean Sheets | C S | 20% | 28% | ||
| 20% | 33% | Failed to Score | F T | 20% | 24% | ||
| 4.1 | 4.8 | Corners for (avg) | C F | 4.3 | 4.5 | ||
| 5.7 | 4.7 | Corners against (avg) | C A | 4.7 | 4.9 | ||
| 1.1 | 1.4 | Yellow cards (avg) | Y C | 1.7 | 1.6 | ||
| 2 | 1 | Red cards | R C | 2 | 5 | ||
| 9.4 | 9.5 | Shots (avg) | S ( | 9.5 | 10.1 | ||
| 4.7 | 4.3 | Shots on Target (avg) | S O | 3.8 | 4 | ||
| 47% | 45% | Goal Efficiency | G E | 33% | 29% | ||
| 10.4 | 8.5 | Shots against (avg) | S A | 12.6 | 12 | ||
| 4.2 | 3.3 | Shots on Target against (avg) | S O | 5.5 | 4.2 | ||
| Total | Home | Away | |||||||||||||||||||
| # | Team | MP | W | D | L | F | A | MP | W | D | L | F | A | MP | W | D | L | F | A | +/- | P |
| 1 | FC Volendam | 19 | 12 | 6 | 1 | 47 | 25 | 10 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 26 | 14 | 9 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 21 | 11 | 22 | 42 |
| 2 | Excelsior | 19 | 13 | 2 | 4 | 47 | 25 | 9 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 21 | 13 | 10 | 8 | 0 | 2 | 26 | 12 | 22 | 41 |
| 3 | FC Emmen | 19 | 11 | 3 | 5 | 29 | 15 | 9 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 17 | 6 | 10 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 12 | 9 | 14 | 36 |
| 4 | Jong Ajax | 19 | 11 | 3 | 5 | 44 | 31 | 9 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 24 | 14 | 10 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 20 | 17 | 13 | 36 |
| 5 | ADO Den Haag | 19 | 13 | 2 | 4 | 44 | 23 | 9 | 7 | 0 | 2 | 22 | 11 | 10 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 22 | 12 | 21 | 35 |
| 6 | Graafschap | 19 | 10 | 3 | 6 | 31 | 23 | 10 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 10 | 14 | 9 | 7 | 0 | 2 | 21 | 9 | 8 | 33 |
| 7 | Roda JC Kerkrade | 19 | 8 | 6 | 5 | 37 | 27 | 10 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 16 | 14 | 9 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 21 | 13 | 10 | 30 |
| 8 | FC Eindhoven | 19 | 9 | 3 | 7 | 33 | 27 | 9 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 18 | 10 | 10 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 15 | 17 | 6 | 30 |
| 9 | NAC Breda | 19 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 31 | 23 | 9 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 17 | 7 | 10 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 14 | 16 | 8 | 27 |
| 10 | FC Den Bosch | 19 | 8 | 1 | 10 | 22 | 34 | 10 | 6 | 0 | 4 | 12 | 17 | 9 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 10 | 17 | -12 | 25 |
| 11 | VVV-Venlo | 19 | 7 | 2 | 10 | 21 | 25 | 10 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 14 | 12 | 9 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 7 | 13 | -4 | 23 |
| 12 | MVV Maastricht | 19 | 7 | 2 | 10 | 22 | 39 | 10 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 15 | 17 | 9 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 7 | 22 | -17 | 23 |
| 13 | Jong PSV | 19 | 6 | 4 | 9 | 29 | 32 | 10 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 16 | 14 | 9 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 13 | 18 | -3 | 22 |
| 14 | Jong Utrecht | 19 | 6 | 4 | 9 | 24 | 31 | 9 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 9 | 17 | 10 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 15 | 14 | -7 | 22 |
| 15 | Jong AZ | 19 | 6 | 3 | 10 | 16 | 22 | 10 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 8 | 13 | -6 | 21 |
| 16 | Helmond Sport | 19 | 5 | 4 | 10 | 17 | 29 | 10 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 9 | 17 | 9 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 8 | 12 | -12 | 19 |
| 17 | Telstar | 19 | 4 | 7 | 8 | 22 | 39 | 9 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 12 | 23 | 10 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 10 | 16 | -17 | 19 |
| 18 | Almere City | 19 | 4 | 5 | 10 | 31 | 40 | 9 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 15 | 19 | 10 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 16 | 21 | -9 | 17 |
| 19 | FC Oss | 19 | 3 | 6 | 10 | 20 | 31 | 10 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 14 | 17 | 9 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 6 | 14 | -11 | 15 |
| 20 | FC Dordrecht | 19 | 2 | 4 | 13 | 22 | 48 | 9 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 10 | 19 | 10 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 12 | 29 | -26 | 10 |
| Total | Home | Away | |||||||||||||||||||
| # | Team | MP | W | D | L | F | A | MP | W | D | L | F | A | MP | W | D | L | F | A | +/- | P |
| 1 | PSV | 16 | 12 | 1 | 3 | 40 | 23 | 8 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 25 | 12 | 8 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 15 | 11 | 17 | 37 |
| 2 | Ajax | 16 | 11 | 3 | 2 | 49 | 4 | 9 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 33 | 3 | 7 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 16 | 1 | 45 | 36 |
| 3 | Feyenoord | 16 | 11 | 3 | 2 | 39 | 15 | 8 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 24 | 7 | 8 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 15 | 8 | 24 | 36 |
| 4 | Vitesse | 16 | 9 | 2 | 5 | 22 | 23 | 8 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 9 | 13 | 8 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 13 | 10 | -1 | 29 |
| 5 | FC Twente | 16 | 8 | 4 | 4 | 24 | 20 | 8 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 10 | 6 | 8 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 14 | 14 | 4 | 28 |
| 6 | FC Utrecht | 16 | 8 | 3 | 5 | 30 | 20 | 8 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 22 | 6 | 8 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 8 | 14 | 10 | 27 |
| 7 | SC Cambuur | 16 | 9 | 0 | 7 | 30 | 36 | 8 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 16 | 18 | 8 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 14 | 18 | -6 | 27 |
| 8 | AZ | 16 | 8 | 2 | 6 | 30 | 22 | 7 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 19 | 9 | 9 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 11 | 13 | 8 | 26 |
| 9 | SC Heerenveen | 16 | 6 | 4 | 6 | 18 | 21 | 9 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 11 | 14 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 7 | 7 | -3 | 22 |
| 10 | Go Ahead Eagles | 16 | 6 | 3 | 7 | 19 | 25 | 8 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 13 | 11 | 8 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 14 | -6 | 21 |
| 11 | FC Groningen | 16 | 4 | 7 | 5 | 18 | 22 | 8 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 7 | 6 | 8 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 11 | 16 | -4 | 19 |
| 12 | NEC | 16 | 5 | 4 | 7 | 21 | 26 | 8 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 9 | 10 | 8 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 12 | 16 | -5 | 19 |
| 13 | Willem II | 16 | 5 | 3 | 8 | 17 | 31 | 8 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 7 | 14 | 8 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 10 | 17 | -14 | 18 |
| 14 | RKC Waalwijk | 16 | 3 | 6 | 7 | 17 | 25 | 8 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 7 | 12 | 8 | 0 | 5 | 3 | 10 | 13 | -8 | 15 |
| 15 | Heracles Almelo | 16 | 4 | 2 | 10 | 16 | 23 | 8 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 10 | 9 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 6 | 14 | -7 | 14 |
| 16 | Fortuna Sittard | 16 | 3 | 3 | 10 | 17 | 39 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 8 | 19 | 9 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 9 | 20 | -22 | 12 |
| 17 | Sparta Rotterdam | 16 | 2 | 5 | 9 | 12 | 24 | 8 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 6 | 11 | 8 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 6 | 13 | -12 | 11 |
| 18 | PEC Zwolle | 16 | 1 | 3 | 12 | 8 | 28 | 8 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 3 | 8 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 5 | 20 | -20 | 6 |