Preview: Fortuna Sittard vs. Go Ahead Eagles - prediction, team news, lineups

The opening game of the 2025-26 Eredivisie season features Fortuna Sittard hosting Go Ahead Eagles at the Fortuna Sittard Stadion on Friday evening.

Fortuna, who finished the previous season four places behind the visiting side, aim to spoil Melvin Boel’s first competitive game in charge since replacing Paul Simonis, after the Dutch manager departed for Bundesliga side Wolfsburg.

Match preview

Seven months have passed since Go Ahead Eagles beat Fortuna in Sittard, and Danny Buijs seeks revenge against Friday's opponents in the opening match of the Dutch top-flight season.

That defeat was probably surprising for FSC, considering that they secured a 2-0 away win over Kowet in Deventer, which coincidentally happened in last season's opening round as well.

Fans will approach Friday's match with their optimism torn, having won 50% of their pre-season games leading into the opening Eredivisie weekend, beating St Truiden and Elversberg and losing to Bayer Leverkusen and Genk - both defeats book-ended the victories.

Further notable is the absence of clean sheets during their tune-up games, evident as they conceded in the 1-0 loss to Genk and the 2-1 defeat by Bayer Leverkusen, while they let in one goal in the 2-1 victory over St Truiden and conceded two despite beating Elversberg 3-2.

That statistic, combined with a run of four defeats in their previous six league encounters with Go Ahead Eagles, suggests that last season’s 2-0 win in Deventer was not only an anomaly but also highlights their underdog status ahead of the first game week of 25-26.

Aware of his new side's dominance in this fixture in recent years, following a run of three defeats in four between 2017 and 2022, Boel hopes to secure Kowet's second victory in Sittard in 2025.

While Friday marks the start of another season, the travelling support will hope that the form shown by their team in 2025, particularly in the second half of the 2024-25 season, is carried into the new campaign.

Under the departed Simonis, who claimed the club’s first KNVB Cup last season, Go Ahead Eagles rank seventh among the 18 clubs that have played 17 or more Eredivisie matches, winning seven, drawing five and losing the same number.

Their 26 points accumulated in the calendar year also significantly outdo Fortuna, who have earned 16 points from an available 51.

Only one defeat in pre-season — a 5-2 loss to Belgian side Mechelen — should also boost the confidence of the free-scoring visitors, even if their tendency to concede may slightly dampen that optimism — the pride of the IJssel have not kept a clean sheet in six matches, including the 2-1 Johan Cruyff Shield defeat at the hands of defending Eredivisie champions PSV.

Their pre-season defensive frailties showed in that loss, as they could not maintain their first-half lead, ultimately conceding twice in the final 12 minutes of the first competitive match in the Dutch season.

Nevertheless, they aim to bounce back from that defeat by continuing their recent good run against Fortunezen.

Fortuna Sittard friendlies form:

Go Ahead Eagles form (all competitions):

Team News

Mattijs Branderhorst, who was on loan from Utrecht last season, has now finalised his permanent transfer to Fortuna, and he is expected to start for FSC on Friday.

Daley Sinkgraven and Ramazan Bayram are recovering from knee injuries, which might prevent them from playing in gameweek one.

Pim Saathof is the only reported absentee for the away team, as the centre-back is sidelined with a severe knee injury.

Richonell Margaret, who scored five league goals and assisted seven for RKC Waalwijk last season, aims to contribute from round one for his new side.

Although his goal was not enough against PSV in the last match, Mathis Suray, who has scored in two consecutive games for Go Ahead Eagles, hopes to be on the winning side this weekend.

Fortuna Sittard possible starting lineup:

Branderhorst; Pinto, Marquez, Ottele, Dahlhaus; Schenkhuizen, Michut; Limnios, Halilovic, Peterson; Sierhuis

Go Ahead Eagles possible starting lineup:

Busser; Deijl, Nauber, Kramer, James; Linthorst, Twigt; Margaret, Breum, Suray; Edvardsen

We say: Fortuna Sittard 1-1 Go Ahead Eagles

Although the last seven meetings between Fortuna and Go Ahead Eagles have either seen only one team score or neither find the net, the high-scoring clubs could break that ongoing pattern.

Both are expected to score in the opening weekend, and they might share the spoils in Sittard, repeating the result from May 2024.

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