With the race for the final two European playoff spots reaching boiling point, Fortuna Sittard welcome FC Utrecht to Limburg on Sunday, knowing that a win in their final encounter of the 2024-25 Eredivisie campaign guarantees them a place in the top nine.
The hosts sit 10th with 40 points, trailing eighth-placed NEC on goal difference but are behind Heerenveen only due to fewer strikes, while the visitors are already assured of fourth place.
Match preview
© Imago
As the curtain falls on the 2024-25 Eredivisie season, the fight for the final two continental qualification berths has taken on a new level of drama, with as many as seven sides still in with a shout heading into the final day.
Seventh-placed Go Ahead Eagles have already sealed a Europa League place via their KNVB Beker triumph, and that has flung the door wide open for others, with even Heracles Almelo in 14th, mathematically still in contention for one of the remaining two available slots.
Fortuna find themselves in a relatively favourable position compared to others in the pack, and with NEC and Heerenveen facing off directly, the equation becomes simpler for Danny Buijs‘s men, who will seal their place in the four-team knockout phase for a European spot with a win regardless of other outcomes.
FSC have already shown they can hurt this weekend’s opponents, having beaten Utrecht 5-2 in the reverse fixture earlier this season, although their record at home against the Cupfighters tells a less encouraging story, with no victory in their last seven such encounters.
The hosts have been decent on their patch this season, winning 8 of their 16 league games at Fortuna Sittard Stadion, which remains the only ground in the top flight yet to produce a single draw — a pattern that lends this weekend’s clash a clear-cut, win-or-bust feel.
The hosts head into this fixture on the back of a disappointing 1-1 draw away to relegated Almere City, where a sluggish opening saw them fall behind before Bojan Radulovic restored parity in the 79th minute.
Nevertheless, Buijs’s men have taken seven points from their last four games, with both of their recent wins coming at home, so they will take to the pitch knowing that momentum on familiar turf is on their side.
© Imago
By contrast, Utrecht have little left to play for in terms of league position after Wednesday’s 1-1 draw with Sparta Rotterdam confirmed a fourth-placed finish and extended their current winless streak to two matches.
Ron Jans‘s side have now amassed 63 points, which puts them five behind third-placed Feyenoord and seven clear of the playoff zone, rendering this final match a ceremonial outing rather than one of consequence.
Still, the 2024-25 campaign will go down as a successful one for Utrecht, who had finished seventh in each of the past three seasons but have now achieved their best top-flight finish since 2016-17 and matched their all-time highest points tally in the division.
Avoiding defeat this weekend would set a new benchmark in club history, and the Cupfighters have every reason to be confident, with only one loss suffered in 16 league games on the road, earning them the third-best away return in the division with 33 points.
Team News
© Imago
Fortuna Sittard will be without at least eight players for Sunday’s decisive outing, with Alen Halilovic the latest to join a lengthy injury list that already features Onur Demir, Samuel Bastien, Alessio da Cruz, Ramazan Bayram, Makan Aiko, Shawn Adewoye and Daley Sinkgraven.
Following their draw against Almere last time out, head coach Danny Buijs could be tempted to shuffle his pack, with forwards Kaj Sierhuis and Kristoffer Peterson both vying for a place up front, while Edouard Michut will hope to be restored to the midfield engine room.
Peterson, Ezequiel Bullaude and da Cruz have been key attacking outlets for Fortuna this season, with the former currently leading the team’s scoring charts with seven goals and the latter two combining to produce 10 between them.
Utrecht, on the other hand, have injury headaches of their own heading into this top-flight clash, with at least six players sidelined, including Zidane Iqbal, Rafik El Arguioui, Can Bozdogan, Siebe Horemans, Miliano Jonathans and Rickson van Hees.
Their standout attacking contributions this season have come from Paxten Aaronson, Miguel Rodriguez and Yoann Cathline, who have delivered returns of eight, seven and six goals, respectively.
Fortuna Sittard possible starting lineup:
Branderhorst; Dijks, Ottele, Guth; Dahlhaus, Fosso, Rosier, Mitrovic; Tunjic, Bullaude; Radulovic
FC Utrecht possible starting lineup:
Barkas; Karouani, Viergever, Hoorn, Vesterlund; Aaronson, Engwanda; Cathline, Fraulo, Rodriguez; Haller
We say: Fortuna Sittard 2-2 FC Utrecht
The hosts are in decent nick on home turf, having won their last two at the Fortuna Sittard Stadion, but with Utrecht proving a tough nut to crack on the road, this clash has all the makings of a nail-biter and could even break new ground by delivering the venue’s first league draw of the 2024-25 campaign.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
