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

Still winless in 90 minutes since November, Go Ahead Eagles welcome Heerenveen to De Adelaarshorst in a rescheduled round 20 Eredivisie match, aiming to end their long wait for a victory.

Hosting opponents who have suffered consecutive heavy defeats, the latter of which was a 5-0 thrashing at FC Twente, the 14th-placed Kowet will hope to exploit their visitors’ ongoing defensive issues to steer clear of danger.

Match preview

When Go Ahead Eagles defeated Feyenoord 2-1 in round 12 in November, the Deventer-based club were ninth in the Eredivisie and just outside the European qualification playoff positions.

Fast forward nine league games and Melvin Boel’s team have not claimed a league win since, sliding to 14th in the table as Kowet — currently on 23 points — look nervously over their shoulders, with Telstar occupying the relegation playoff position and second-bottom Heracles both on 17 points.

Goalscoring has not been an issue for last season’s KNVB Beker winners, who have found the back of the net in eight of their nine winless league games; however, they have not kept a clean sheet in the Eredivisie during this spell, having last prevented an opponent from scoring in late October’s 2-0 victory over SBV Excelsior.

Kowet enter the rescheduled game after five consecutive score draws against Groningen, Fortuna Sittard, Ajax, FC Volendam and Telstar, and Boel, who has seen his team exit Europe and be eliminated in their cup title defence, hopes to secure maximum points in a league game for the first time since November.

Success on Wednesday would create some separation from the bottom places, potentially opening up an eight-point advantage, but failure will leave them firmly in the conversation to lose their top-flight status after a five-year stay in the division.

Go Ahead Eagles head into the midweek clash with at least a positive recent record against Heerenveen, whom they have defeated in three of their last five Eredivisie meetings, including the corresponding fixture last season.

That commendable set of results, combined with Heerenveen’s recent defensive mishaps against PSV Eindhoven in the KNVB Beker and Saturday’s humiliation at Twente, should boost the confidence of supporters in Deventer ahead of the midweek contest.

Robin Veldman takes his team into a third away fixture in the space of a week, aiming to avoid another thrashing after losing 4-1 in Eindhoven to exit the cup in the last eight and falling 5-0 at the weekend in Enschede, where they are winless in six years.

An increasingly worrisome statistic across both games was the concession of 49 shots — 20 against PSV and 29 in the Twente loss — indicating a level of passivity in both defeats that the Super Frisians must correct in Wednesday’s match.

Further disappointment means Veldman’s team are now without a win in four matches across all competitions, losing three, in an unexpected downturn in performances and results.

Heerenveen ended 2025 by winning three matches in a row — beating Sparta Rotterdam, Feyenoord in the KNVB Beker and Heracles — before extending their unbeaten spell by drawing with Feyenoord (2-2) in the league and defeating Waalwijk in the cup, but they have not won since.

Having scored three goals in each of the aforementioned victories, Heerenveen have managed just two during their four-match winless run, and they will look to correct that significant drop-off on Wednesday to avoid being leapfrogged by their hosts, who sit two points below them in the standings.

Go Ahead Eagles Eredivisie form:

Go Ahead Eagles form (all competitions):

Heerenveen Eredivisie form:

Heerenveen form (all competitions):

Team News

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With Go Ahead Eagles not suffering any apparent injury setbacks against Telstar, Boel’s only expected absentees are Robbin Weijenberg (knee), Gerrit Nauber (leg) and Pim Saathof (knee).

Although Mathis Suray has not scored since mid-January’s cup success against Heracles, drawing a blank in five straight matches, the wide attacker will hope to be decisive and add to his eight Eredivisie goals.

Given Milan Smit’s loan departure to Stoke City, that leaves five-goal midfielder Melle Meulensteen and two-goal forward Victor Edvardsen as possible match-winners, while Jakob Breum is a creative threat, having provided three assists so far.

As for the visitors, six-goal forward Dylan Vente missed Heerenveen’s 5-0 defeat at Twente after going off with a suspected calf injury in the cup exit to PSV, and De Superfriezen might have to navigate Wednesday’s clash without their second-top scorer.

Having seemingly come through the latest league defeat unscathed, only Levi Smans (knee) is Veldman’s major absentee for Wednesday.

With Vente unlikely to play, the attacking onus is on Jacob Trenskow — seven goals and two assists — and captain Luuk Brouwers — three goals and four assists — to be the difference-makers in Deventer.

Go Ahead Eagles possible starting lineup:

De Busser; Van Zwam, Dirksen, Kramer, Adelgaard; Meulensteen, Linthorst; Slory, Breum, Suray; Edvardsen

Heerenveen possible starting lineup:

Klaverboer; Braude, Kersten, Willemsen, Zagaritis; Linday, Van Overeem; Trenskow, Brouwers, Meerveld; Nordas

We say: Go Ahead Eagles 2-2 Heerenveen

Go Ahead Eagles have become the Eredivisie’s draw experts lately, conceding late equalisers in two of their recent ties with Volendam and Telstar, and their inability to keep a clean sheet could see them share the spoils once again.

While it may be far from ideal for both teams, it would at least prevent another disappointing loss for Heerenveen, who will hope to avoid a third consecutive away defeat in the rescheduled fixture.

Another draw is anticipated on Wednesday, with neither side able to find the decisive winning strike.

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