FC Groningen v FC Volendam

Groningen were one of six Eredivisie clubs to change their head coach over the summer. Frank Wormuth, despite the former manager of Heracles Almelo suffering relegation in May, is still respected by many in the Netherlands as being a good coach. Groningen have mainly strengthened with young players again, in the hope that they will grow into sellable key players in the future. That strategy led to a poor season last year with some boring football too.

Volendam were one of three promoted teams to arrive from the Keuken Kampioen Divisie. They play some great football under well-known coach Wim Jonk, who surprised Dutch football fans by remaining with Volendam for another season, and they have some good young players coming through. How will they handle the Eredivisie? Well, they have made very few summer signings, but with Robert Muhren (who scored for fun in the Dutch second tier) and Henk Veerman returning to the club, they have two strikers who could score the goals to keep them up. Carel Eiting did also sign for the club this week; he will be an asset in midfield.

With Groningen in the early stages of a mini re-build, Volendam will sense a chance of at least a point. I think we will see Wormuth’s team take shape later on in the season.

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NEC Nijmegen v FC Twente

NEC Nijmegen could be one of three sides to suffer ‘second-season syndrome’ in the Eredivisie, having had a decent first season back in the top flight. Goalkeeper Jasper Cillessen – once he signs for sure – will be an outstanding addition, and there are still rumours that Jurgen Locadia might also pen a contract; two transfers that could push NEC up the table.

The sell-out crowd on Sunday will likely witness FC Twente laying down their marker for the new season, in between qualifying matches for the Europa Conference League. They look full of goals and the starting eleven seems settled.

The first leg of that qualifier went in Twente’s favour, with a 1-3 victory in Serbia. In pre-season Ron Jans’s men were pretty spectacular, beating Bologna and Schalke by comfortable margins. The players are usually lifted by marvellous support, and over the summer they managed to keep their best players for an exciting season ahead. Backing Twente with an away win should reap rewards here. 

Vitesse Arnhem v Feyenoord

Vitesse, after a fun season competing in the Europa Conference League, have lost several key players on free transfers over the summer, and it is likely they will regress into mid-table mediocrity this year. Young players Enzo Cornelisse and Million Manhoef, plus teenage loan signings Ryan Flamingo and Mo Sankoh are expected to step up and lift the quality of a team that almost has a completely new back five in Thomas Letsch’s relatively unique system (by Eredivisie standards). At the moment, I don’t see where the attacking threat comes from midfield to support the strikers, who aren’t exactly prolific at this level either.

Feyenoord have just made a string of exciting signings, but will they be settled in enough for three points on Sunday? After the progress they made under Arne Slot last season, there is more re-building to do. All nine incomings are under the age of 26: Mexican Santiago Giménez is the new striker with Danilo the back-up option; Sebastien Szymanski has already impressed as the new first-choice attacking midfielder, and there are three more options for the wings. Expecting what will essentially be a brand-new front four to gel so quickly is unrealistic, so Feyenoord may drop some early points in the first weeks of the season. That may happen in Arnhem, but given the backwards steps Vitesse have taken, I would back Feyenoord to get off to a good start. 

AZ Alkmaar v Go Ahead Eagles

AZ will spend another season chasing a place in the top four and competing in the Europa Conference League, at least that’s what they were hoping for before a dreadful away performance in qualifying on Thursday, losing to Dundee United.

Pascal Jansen has been criticised a few times now for a lack of a game plan or a Plan B when things are tricky for his side. If AZ are knocked out of Europe and they lose a few early games in the league, Jansen will become the first Eredivisie casualty.

However, AZ are usually a good bet to win home games like this one. The Alkmaar club have some decent firepower, but they can be guilty of spurning too many opportunities in games where they enjoy lots of possession, so under 3.5 goals could be a good choice here.

Go Ahead Eagles look set to struggle this year, with some unknown quantities arriving from around Europe this summer, and new coach René Hake has a point to prove as an Eredivisie manager following an unsuccessful spell with Utrecht

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