Fortuna Sittard vs Excelsior Predictions

Fortuna Sittard could slip into the relegation zone this weekend if they lose at home to Excelsior and results elsewhere go against them, because as things stand they have just a two point cushion above the bottom three. Visitors Excelsior are in an even worse predicament as they sit one point above the drop zone, but two wins from their last two matches suggests a return to form for the Rotterdam club.

Fortuna Sittard were their own worst enemies as PSV strolled to a comfortable 5-0 win last weekend. The visitors allowed Pereiro to open the scoring in the eighth minute and then had defender Essers sent-off shortly after the half hour mark. Despite regrouping well and only losing by one at the interval, Fortuna Sittard conceded two early second half goals to de Jong and Gakpo to end any faint hopes of a draw or even a narrow defeat. The leagues top scorer de Jong completed his hat trick in the final fifteen minutes to wrap up a 5-0 win for the hosts and an awful day for Fortuna Sittard.

Feyenoord controlled the opening forty-five minutes against Excelsior, but due to some guilt edged misses the pair went in level at the break goalless. The visitors did take a deserved lead through van Persie’s eleventh league goal of the season, but Excelsior responded well and were back on level terms thanks to a Messaoud strike shortly after the hour mark. The game appeared to be heading for a draw as Feyenoord frustratingly missed opportunities to claim all three points, but in the last minute, just seconds after being introduced from the bench van der Meer forced home the ball in the very last minute to clinch an unexpected win for Excelsior against their local rivals.

Both Fortuna Sittard’s and Excelsior’s defences have left a lot to be desired at times, and that is highlighted over each teams last six matches which have produced just a single clean sheet apiece. With that in mind we’re expecting both teams to score on Sunday, especially as the two teams both need to win in order to keep themselves from potentially dropping into the relegation places. That’s not the only reason we’re expecting goals though, both teams have scored in four of the last six meetings between the pair, while four of Fortuna Sittard’s and three of Excelsior’s last five matches have also ended with both teams scoring. A tight and tense game is expected with the two clubs battling it out at the foot of the table, and with their last two meetings ending in draws we can see the two teams playing out another stalemate on Sunday.

Neither of the sides can claim to be in good form based on their last six matches which have mostly ended in defeat, but Excelsior have won their last two games including that shock 2-1 victory over high flying Feyenoord. El Messaoudi and Stokkers joint top score for the hosts with five goals each in the Eredivisie this season, while Messaoud leads the way for Excelsior with six goals to his name.

We’re confident that both teams will score on Sunday, and have backed the game to end in a 1-1 draw. Both teams are fighting for survival in the Eredivisie and with that often comes tight, tense, and scrappy games without a lot of goalmouth action, but these two defences have regularly let in goals in recent weeks which will give both teams an increased chance of scoring. Excelsior head into the game with back to back wins behind them, while Fortuna Sittard have the home advantage and that should be enough for the pair to cancel each other out this weekend.