Week 18 features a match on Wed Jan 25th, where Excelsior and FC Utrecht will play a match in Utrecht in a meeting of these two closely matched Eredivisie teams. The game day is forecasted to be a cloudy and cold day, with daytime temperatures of only 4 degrees, making for an unpleasant day. FC Utrecht is fresh off their 2-2 draw against Go Ahead Eagles. Willum Thor Willumsson scored the first goal for FC Utrecht on an own goal in the 3rd minute, then Bobby Adekanye tied it up for Go Ahead Eagles in the 10th minute . FC Utrecht should be reasonably happy with their recent performance, earning 18 points in their last 10 matches, while 11th placed Excelsior is fresh off their 2-0 shutout win against FC Volendam. Mirani scored the first goal for Excelsior on an own goal in the 18th minute, then Marouan Azarkan added another in the 80th minute on a feed from Julian Baas In the end, FC Volendam couldn’t muster any offence and Excelsior ran away with the shutout win. They’re hoping to improve on their recent performance, having lost 6 of their last 10.
On Oct 2nd, Excelsior hosted FC Utrecht at the Van Donge & De Roo Stadion in their last match together. FC Utrecht took the match by a score of 1 to 0. Sander van de Streek struck first for FC Utrecht in the 31st minute on a feed from Can Bozdogan, and that was all the excitement the two teams could muster At the end of 90 a dissapointed Excelsior couldn’t manage to score, and FC Utrecht took the shutout win.
Nikolas Agrafiotis and Nathangelo Markelo are the top scorers for Excelsior in the last 5 matches, but unfortunately they only have one goal. It’s hard to imagine having success with those stats. Sander van de Streek has been the most effective weapon for FC Utrecht lately. The Dutch midfielder has netted three goals in his last five matches
Michael Kappelgaard Silberbauer’s FC Utrecht squad will be without Jens Toornstra, Bart Ramselaar, Django Warmerdam, Sander van de Streek and Ramon Hendriks, while Marinus Dijkhuizen’s squad will be without Jacky Donkor and Kik Pierie.