Aiming to seal eighth spot in the Eredivisie table on the final day of the season, NEC will visit Heracles on Sunday.
The visitors lead ninth and 10th spots on goal difference thanks to consecutive wins, while their visitors are six spots and only two points behind.
Match preview
© Imago
Heracles return to action on Sunday aiming to climb the Eredivisie table on the final day, having dropped into the bottom five last time out.
Following a 14th-placed finish last time around, in which they earned 33 points, the Heraclieden have enjoyed a more comfortable campaign in 2025, still sitting in the same spot but having picked up 38 points from their 33 games thus far.
Erwin van de Looi‘s side moved clear of the threat of the drop with an impressive run between late March and early May, picking up three victories and 10 points from a six-match span.
That culminated in a 2-1 triumph away at Willem II, thanks to goals from Ivan Mesik and Jizz Hornkamp, but they would drop back down to 14th spot following a defeat last time out, visiting new leaders PSV Eindhoven and leaving empty-handed as Malik Tillman and Ismael Saibari netted first-half braces in a 4-1 home win with Mario Engels‘s goal nothing more than a consolation.
Now heading into the final day in that same 14th place, but only trailing their eighth-placed visitors by two points and 11th and 12th spots by one, Heracles will bid to bounce back to winning ways and improve on last year’s finish.
© Imago
Their visitors, meanwhile, make the trip at the weekend aiming to seal European qualification for the first time since the 2008-09 season thanks to a pleasing campaign.
Heading into the final game of the season, NEC find themselves eighth in the Dutch top flight having earned 40 points from their 33 outings, winning 11 and drawing seven of those.
They sat in the bottom half with three games remaining on the back of a loss to Heerenveen and a draw with Willem II, but Rogier Meijer‘s have since quickly climbed the table with back-to-back victories, firstly bouncing back to winning ways in impressive fashion with a 3-0 triumph away at then-leaders Ajax thanks to goals from Sontje Hansen, Brayann Pereira and Sami Ouaissa.
The Nijmegen outfit would then host NAC Breda on Wednesday and prevail by the same scoreline, as Pereira put them ahead in the first half and Bryan Linssen added a brace in the final 30 minutes.
Now sitting eighth thanks to those victories in the penultimate European spot, but only leading Heerenveen and Fortuna Sittard on goal difference and Sparta Rotterdam and Groningen by one point, NEC will aim to make it three straight victories to finish the season in the top eight.
Team News
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Heracles will remain without Bryan Limbombe, Nikolai Laursen, Justin Hoogma, Sava-Arangel Cestic and Jordy Bruijn on Sunday due to injuries.
Mario Engels has a claim to start in attack after scoring off the bench against PSV Eindhoven last time out, and he could line up alongside Jizz Hornkamp, who has netted eight Eredivisie goals so far this season.
Jan Zamburek will hope to keep his place in midfield alongside key man Brian de Keersmaecker, who has chipped in with five league goals of his own this term.
NEC could be unchanged from their second straight 3-0 win for the final day, with Dirk Proper, Bram Nuytinck and Koki Ogawa remaining confined to the treatment room.
Bryan Linssen does have a strong claim to start in attack, though, having come off the bench to score a brace against NAC Breda, and he could displace Kento Shiogai and lead the line in the absence of Ogawa.
Sontje Hansen and Thomas Ouwejan will keep their spots either side of a lone striker, while Lars Olden Larsen should again get the nod in the engine room alongside Sami Ouaissa and Kodai Sano despite competition from Lasse Schone.
Heracles possible starting lineup:
De Keijzer; Benita, Mirani, Mesik, Rots; Zamburek, De Keersmaecker; Talvitie, Bruns, Engels; Hornkamp
NEC possible starting lineup:
Roefs; Pereira, Sandler, Marquez Alvarez, Verdonk; Sano, Ouaissa, Larsen; Hansen, Linssen, Ouwejan
We say: Heracles 1-3 NEC
Despite the hosts still being within touching distance of their visitors with a chance to leapfrog them on the final day, we back NEC to seal a top-eight spot with an away win on Sunday on the back of consecutive 3-0 triumphs.
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