NEC Nijmegen v Sparta Rotterdam Preview | Two play-off hunting sides do battle at the Gofferstadion | OneFootball

NEC Nijmegen will host Sparta Rotterdam on Saturday afternoon in a game that pits two sides chasing a top eight finish. In the Eredivisie, those sides that finish between fifth and eighth fight it out for a chance of qualifying for the Europa Conference League second qualification round. At the moment, the home side sit in seventh, just one point and one place above Sparta.

During their previous meeting, the game finished 1-1. Dirk Proper gave NEC the lead in the second half, only for Joshua Kitolano to equalise from the penalty spot with just under 10 minutes to go. Despite winning more games than NEC this season, Sparta have an inferior goal difference and have lost more. They have only scored 29 goals in 22 games, whereas their opponents have 41 in the same time period.

On loan Japanese forward Koki Ogawa leads the way for NEC this season, with seven Eredivisie goals. The 26-year-old is on loan from Yokohama FC, although NEC to have an option to buy. Over the winter window they lost top scorer Magnus Mattsson to FC Copenhagen. The 24-year-old Danish midfielder had scored 11 goals and provided four assists. Despite this they are in good form, with just one loss in 2024, although this did come against relegation threatened RKC Waalwijk. Last time out they rescued a point away to Ajax late on.

For their opponents Sparta Rotterdam, their top scorer is Tobias Lauritsen. The 26-year-old Norwegian will likely be moving on in the summer, but so far this season he has scored seven goals and provided six assists in 20 Eredivisie games. Their win in the Rotterdam derby over Excelsior ended a run of four games without a win. They will be hoping to use this as a springboard for a strong finish to the rest of the season.

GBeNeFN | Ben Jackson