FC Utrecht will be looking to ground the teams above them in the Eredivisie standings when they face Heerenveen with kickoff at 10 pm.
When the visitors sit in the seventh position, Heerenveen has dropped to 11th place after losing six consecutive games.
After ending last season in the sixth position, Utrecht hopes to secure a return to European football this time around.
To that end, Rene Hake’s team has posted just two wins from their last nine matches—a performance that puts them behind league leaders AZ by six points.
Making up that deficit is still a possibility, but the club could now be without Dirk Marcellis, who was sent off to pick up his second yellow card of the match against Vitesse on Sunday.
Ajax is out of the way for this season, but the Cathedral Citizens are under pressure to deliver in their next two matches before hosting PSV Eindhoven on March 13. Attacker Moussa Sylla scored his fifth goal last weekend, his first since returning from injury.
After being appointed as manager of Heerenveen on an interim basis, Ole Tobiassen has been tasked with achieving a top-half finish in the Eredivisie.
Despite overseeing a string of defeats, Tobiassen has yet to come under pressure from the club’s board after earning points against Fortuna Sittard, NEC and PSV.
Heerenveen vs Utrecht Head to Head
Both sides have 33 games against each other with hosts taking ten wins while visitors with sixteen wins. Here is a look at their previous encounters:
Home
- PSV 3-1 Heerenveen
- Heerenveen 0-1 NEC
- Fortuna 2-0 Heerenveen
- Heerenveen 0-1 PEC Zwolle
- Heerenveen 0-1 Go Ahead Eagles
Away
- FC Utrecht 1-1 Vitesse
- Heracles 1-0 Utrecht
- Utrecht 3-2 Cambuur
- Spoarta Rotterdam 0-3 FC Utrecht
- FC Utrecht 0-3 Ajax
SC Heerenveen Team News
With Nick Bakker, Sven van Beek and Tibor Halilovic in the treatment room, Tobiasen will be forced to introduce several changes to his starting lineup. Lucas Woudenberg could be deployed in the middle of the backline, while Anthony Musaba is an option for Sven van Beek on the flank.
FC Utrecht Team News
Coach Erik ten Hag has some tough decisions ahead of Wednesday’s game against Vitesse. Anastasios Douvikas is pushing for a recall, but with Hake making three substitutions last weekend, it’s unlikely that Ten Hag will make too many changes to his starting lineup.
Prediction and Odds
Both clubs have failed to produce results lately, making this match feel like a tough one to predict.
- FC Utrecht Win
- Goals Under 3.5
- Most Goals: 2H
