Perhaps a welcome break from league football as FC Groningen & NEC face off to decide who makes it to next stage of the KNVB Beker. All the pre-match information is available here!
There’s little time for restitution or working hard at the training pitch these days, with both teams having played their last game less than four days ago.
FC Groningen form and stats
Last season their KNVB Beker adventure ended in the 2nd round.The home fans haven’t been spoiled with victories in the Eredivisie this season. FC Groningen have only managed 1 win, 6 draws and 2 losses from their games here at Euroborg.
Stress levels are on the rise for Groningen's attacking players as they have now played 192 minutes without scoring in a league game. Postema was their last goal scorer.
FC Groningen's previous game was also a home match, the defeat 0-1 versus PSV. Duarte (midfield was the top team player in that game with a rating of 7.35/10. Duarte hit the woodwork once and had 42 successful passes (of 52 total).
Prior to that was the away defeat visiting AZ (0-1).The manager Buijs will start preparations for the next game as soon this is finished, as the hosts are going to Vitesse in only three days.
FC Groningen aren't scoring a lot here at Euroborg in the league, with only 7 goals from 9 games. From these home matches, Groningen have conceded only 7 goals.
NEC form and stats
NEC's mission in KNVB Beker last season failed in the quarter-finals.5 wins, 2 draws and 3 losses. That’s the product of NEC playing as the away team in the Eredivisie this season.
270 minutes! That's how long the NEC goalkeeper Danny Vukovic and his defense have shut out their league opponents.
NEC delivered a 0-0 draw playing at home against Heracles in their previous match; a Eredivisie game. Midfielder Schöne was the best performer of that match, with a rating of 8.03. Schöne hit four key passes and dribled past the opponent 1 of 2 times.
Prior to that result NEC won their away game at Willem II in the Eredivisie. The scoreline was 1-0.A new game in only four days for NEC, the Eredivisie home match versus Feyenoord. Busy days.
NEC has displayed an ability to score goals in away matches in the league this season, 15 goals from 10 games. NEC struggle to build an impenetrable defensive wall in away matches with a total of 16 goals conceded from these games.
Head 2 Head
Head-to-head statistics (for the former ten meetings): FC Groningen won three games, four matches ended with a draw and NEC have three wins. Over 2,5 goals / under 2,5 goals: five / fiveTop Goalscorers
  C. Ngonge 7 goals |  J. Strand Larsen 6 goals |   A. Akman 5 goals |
FC Groningen missing players
NEC missing players
| FC Groningen | NEC | ||||||
| Total | Home | Statistics | Stat | Away | Total | ||
| 25 | 11 | Played | P | 14 | 25 | ||
| 8 | 2 | Won | W | 8 | 12 | ||
| 8 | 7 | Drew | D | 2 | 5 | ||
| 9 | 2 | Lost | L | 4 | 8 | ||
| 31 | 11 | Scored | S | 25 | 39 | ||
| 32 | 7 | Conceded | C | 22 | 32 | ||
| 92% | 82% | Over 0.5 | O 0.5 | 100% | 92% | ||
| 68% | 64% | Over 1.5 | O 1.5 | 79% | 76% | ||
| 40% | 9% | Over 2.5 | O 2.5 | 57% | 52% | ||
| 20% | 9% | Over 3.5 | O 3.5 | 29% | 20% | ||
| 16% | 0% | Over 4.5 | O 4.5 | 21% | 16% | ||
| 52% | 45% | BTTS | BTTS | 57% | 44% | ||
| 28% | 36% | Clean Sheets | C S | 36% | 44% | ||
| 28% | 36% | Failed to Score | F T | 7% | 20% | ||
| 4.2 | 4.4 | Corners for (avg) | C F | 3.4 | 4.2 | ||
| 5 | 5.2 | Corners against (avg) | C A | 6.1 | 6.2 | ||
| 1.4 | 1.5 | Yellow cards (avg) | Y C | 1.6 | 1.5 | ||
| 5 | 3 | Red cards | R C | 0 | 0 | ||
| 10.6 | 10.5 | Shots (avg) | S ( | 10.3 | 11.4 | ||
| 4.2 | 3.9 | Shots on Target (avg) | S O | 4.6 | 4.8 | ||
| 30% | 26% | Goal Efficiency | G E | 39% | 32% | ||
| 12.1 | 11.2 | Shots against (avg) | S A | 15.4 | 14.5 | ||
| 4.3 | 2.6 | Shots on Target against (avg) | S O | 4.9 | 4.5 | ||
| 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 | 19 | 15 | 1 | 3 | 47 | 24 | 9 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 27 | 12 | 10 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 20 | 12 | 23 | 46 |
| 2 | Ajax | 19 | 14 | 3 | 2 | 59 | 4 | 10 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 38 | 3 | 9 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 21 | 1 | 55 | 45 |
| 3 | Feyenoord | 19 | 12 | 3 | 4 | 42 | 18 | 10 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 24 | 10 | 9 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 18 | 8 | 24 | 39 |
| 4 | Vitesse | 19 | 11 | 3 | 5 | 26 | 25 | 9 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 10 | 13 | 10 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 16 | 12 | 1 | 36 |
| 5 | AZ | 19 | 11 | 2 | 6 | 37 | 24 | 9 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 24 | 10 | 10 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 13 | 14 | 13 | 35 |
| 6 | FC Twente | 19 | 10 | 5 | 4 | 30 | 22 | 9 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 12 | 6 | 10 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 18 | 16 | 8 | 35 |
| 7 | FC Utrecht | 19 | 8 | 5 | 6 | 33 | 26 | 10 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 23 | 10 | 9 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 10 | 16 | 7 | 29 |
| 8 | SC Cambuur | 19 | 9 | 2 | 8 | 33 | 40 | 10 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 18 | 21 | 9 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 15 | 19 | -7 | 29 |
| 9 | NEC | 19 | 7 | 5 | 7 | 24 | 26 | 9 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 15 | 16 | -2 | 26 |
| 10 | SC Heerenveen | 19 | 7 | 4 | 8 | 20 | 27 | 10 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 11 | 17 | 9 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 9 | 10 | -7 | 25 |
| 11 | Go Ahead Eagles | 19 | 6 | 3 | 10 | 19 | 31 | 10 | 4 | 0 | 6 | 13 | 15 | 9 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 6 | 16 | -12 | 21 |
| 12 | Heracles | 19 | 5 | 4 | 10 | 21 | 26 | 10 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 15 | 12 | 9 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 6 | 14 | -5 | 19 |
| 13 | FC Groningen | 19 | 4 | 7 | 8 | 20 | 28 | 9 | 1 | 6 | 2 | 7 | 7 | 10 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 13 | 21 | -8 | 19 |
| 14 | RKC Waalwijk | 19 | 4 | 7 | 8 | 21 | 30 | 9 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 8 | 16 | 10 | 1 | 6 | 3 | 13 | 14 | -9 | 19 |
| 15 | Willem II | 19 | 5 | 3 | 11 | 18 | 38 | 9 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 7 | 15 | 10 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 11 | 23 | -20 | 18 |
| 16 | Sparta Rotterdam | 19 | 2 | 8 | 9 | 16 | 28 | 10 | 1 | 5 | 4 | 9 | 14 | 9 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 7 | 14 | -12 | 14 |
| 17 | Fortuna Sittard | 19 | 3 | 4 | 12 | 20 | 48 | 9 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 11 | 23 | 10 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 9 | 25 | -28 | 13 |
| 18 | PEC Zwolle | 19 | 2 | 3 | 14 | 11 | 32 | 10 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 6 | 11 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 5 | 21 | -21 | 9 |
