The hosts have risen to 11th spot thanks to back-to-back league wins after a tough spell, while their visitors remain sixth having now gone unbeaten in their last eight top-flight outings. Match preview After narrowly avoiding relegation last season, Fortuna Sittard again experienced a tough first half to the Eredivisie campaign this time around, as after putting three consecutive wins on the board following five straight defeats to begin the term, they experienced another particularly tough run between mid-October and mid-January.
The first of those wins was indeed against Fortuna Sittard in October, as Arno Verschueren hit a brace and Vito van Crooij scored from the spot in a 3-1 home win, while their most recent three-point haul came away at Cambuur two weeks ago, with Maurice Steijn's men coming away with a 3-0 triumph thanks to goals from Tobias Lauritsen, Koki Saito and van Crooij. Although they will certainly be pleased with their form in recent months, De Kasteelheren may be slightly disappointed by their two consecutive draws against RKC Waalwijk and NEC coming into Friday's contest, having been pegged back to 1-1 in the final 10 minutes of the latter, and Steijn's side will now be vying to return to winning ways with the chance to move level on points with fifth-placed FC Twente. Fortuna Sittard Eredivisie form: Sparta Rotterdam Eredivisie form: Team News Fortuna Sittard only made one change for the weekend's meeting with Cambuur after the previous victory over Heerenveen, and after back-to-back wins, we should again see a very similar starting lineup, with vastly experienced forward Burak Yilmaz bound to lead the line having found the net from the penalty spot in each of their last four league games to take his tally to eight goals for the season in the Eredivisie.
That will certainly be no easy task, though, as the visitors will make the trip with the aim of going nine games unbeaten in the Dutch top flight while also returning to winning ways. Following a 14th-placed finish last time around, in which they only placed above Wednesday's opponents on goal difference, De Kasteelheren started the new term in much more positive fashion with 17 points coming from their opening 11 outings, and they have since improved further on that with a run of eight matches without a defeat, including four draws and four triumphs.
Fortuna Sittard vs Sparta Rotterdam Head to Head
Fortuna Sittard vs Sparta Rotterdam [LIVE] Score - (football)
Fortuna Sittard vs Sparta Rotterdam prediction 03.02.2023