Preview: Cambuur vs. SBV Excelsior - prediction, team news, lineups

Back in the Eredivisie after a three-year absence, Cambuur host SBV Excelsior in Friday's top-flight opener at Kooi Stadion, aiming to start the season positively.

That ambition will be tested considering the league returnees' three-match losing run heading into gameweek one, while their visitors were unblemished in pre-season heading into Friday's contest.

Match preview

It took three years, but Cambuur are back in the top flight, having lost their Eredivisie status in 2023 following a 17th-placed finish.

A dismal 2023-24 13th-placed finish in the second tier was followed by placing third and making the post-season playoffs, only to fall to FC Den Bosch in the first round.

Not to be denied in 2025-26, Johan Plat guided the Yellow-Blues back into the big time, and SCC now aim to start the campaign encouragingly.

However, little or no momentum threatens to thwart that aspiration, with Plat's men entering Friday's opener on a three-match losing run.

The team's dearth of clean sheets in their tune-up games — one shutout in seven matches — effectively continues their inability to keep opponents out since the turn of the year, conceding in 15 of 17 second-tier matches in 2026.

SCC's run to close out the Eerste Divisie campaign followed nine clean sheets in their opening 21 matches, and Excelsior will look to exploit the home team's ongoing leaky rearguard.

Indeed, entering the start of the domestic season with significantly healthier form adds to the visiting club's positivity before their trip to Leeuwarden.

The Kralingers were surprisingly unblemished in the off-season, securing wins in all five matches, including one against Friday's opponents at the start of July.

That 3-2 win began a sequence of five triumphs against Dordrecht, NAC Breda, Heracles Almelo and, very recently, De Graafschap to start the new month.

Notable, however, has been the Rotterdam-based club's inclination to outscore their opponents, with the Paper Recycling Club keeping one clean sheet in their five-match winning run, during which they have let in two goals in July's 3-2 win over Cambuur and three in last month's 5-3 success over Heracles.

Having ended the previous season claiming 11 points from their final five games, Ruben den Uil's men carry an 11-match streak without losing into the 2026-27 campaign, making them favourites for the Eredivisie kick-off

Cambuur friendlies form:

SBV Excelsior friendly form:

Team News

Daan Visser has not played for Cambuur since September last year, and the midfielder's long-term knee injury keeps him out of this weekend's opener.

With last season's leading goalscorers Ichem Ferrah and Oscar Sjostrand, who contributed 22 goals in total, no longer at the club, Plat's team must find match-winners from elsewhere this season.

Given that no players have been signed for a fee this summer, SCC are effectively relying on a surfeit of youth arrivals from local and other European clubs to add to their overall depth.

The visitors do not have the fear of not having a sure-fire goalscorer in their team, with Gyan de Regt scoring five goals in four pre-season appearances, including braces against Heracles and De Graafschap.

Backed by Irakli Yegoian, who netted three times in Roodzwarten's tune-up games, Den Uil can rely on two in-form players to deliver the goods against the Yellow-Blues.

Although the visitors do not have any injury worries heading into gameweek one, Mainz 05 loanee Kasey Boss is a likely absentee with a reported shoulder injury.

Cambuur possible starting lineup:

Jansen; Mulders, Baouf, Amofa, Berkhout; Hamache, Apkakou, Souren; Henstra, Van de Pavert, Kvam

SBV Excelsior possible starting lineup:

Van Gassel; Meissen, Widell, Cairo, Henderikx; Naujoks, Hartjes, Yegoian; Groen, De Regt, Tielemans

We say: Cambuur 1-3 SBV Excelsior

It is hard to back anyone other than Excelsior to record another Eredivisie victory, as they have form on their side and have multiple threats to depend on against promoted Cambuur.

As such, the visitors should notch a sixth victory on the trot and fourth win in six Eredivisie games, going back to the previous season, to begin 2026-27 on a winning note.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.