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

SBV Excelsior travel to Friesland in Northern Netherlands to face Heerenveen at the Abe Lenstra Stadion in the Eredivisie on Saturday.

Both teams come into the weekend tied on six points after five matches, marooned in mid-table.

Match preview

Heerenveen will look to recover from last weekend's result when they became Feyenoord's latest victims.

Kees van Wonderen's men became the third successive side to ship five or more goals against the current Eredivisie champions, losing 6-1 at De Kuip.

That marked a third consecutive defeat for Van Wonderen, where Heerenveen have been shipping an alarming number of goals.

The six they conceded in Rotterdam followed two straight defeats to Sparta Rotterdam and Go Ahead Eagles, where Heerenveen let in three on both occasions.

Wins over RKC Waalwijk and Utrecht to start the season gave fans belief that another European charge was on the cards.

However, a sudden loss of form places huge importance on this home clash, as another defeat could see them slide very close to the drop zone, with many sides around them still having a game in hand.

Heerenveen do have a relatively strong recent record against Excelsior, though, going unbeaten in their four previous meetings.

Since a 3-3 draw in 2018, though, this fixture has produced just two goals in the three clashes since.

Trips to Friesland have not been fruitful for Excelsior in the past decade, as they have won just once here since 2011.

That sole success was a 1-0 win in 2018, where Mike van Duinen scored the only goal, but unfortunately he will miss this game with injury.

Marinus Dijkhuizen's men have struggled slightly since a remarkable opening day win away to NEC Nijmegen.

That 4-3 triumph saw them come from behind twice, scoring a 99th-minute winner, but they have not tasted victory since.

Failure to beat an Almere City side that did not have a point at home last week continued a poor run of results for the Rotterdam club.

After holding an underperforming Ajax side to a 2-2 draw on the second weekend of the season, Excelsior have taken just two points.

Another 2-2 draw with Fortuna Sittard was followed up by defeat at Heracles Almelo, as defensive fragility has cost them dearly.

Only upcoming opponents Heerenveen and Feyenoord have seen more goals in their games so far this season, but inability to hold onto leads against Ajax and Sittard have cost them four points already.

Team News

Heerenveen will be without Chelsea loanee Charlie Webster after he was sent off despite scoring in defeat to Go Ahead Eagles.

Webster has one more game to serve on his suspension, but Thom Haye will return after serving a ban of his own.

A hip injury will see Polish defender Pawel Bochniewicz miss this encounter, while Timo Zaal and Patrik Walemark are also sidelined.

Excelsior will welcome back Greek winger Lazaros Lamprou from suspension, and he could replace Derensili Sanches Fernandes out wide.

The aforementioned Van Duinen is out, along with fellow midfielders Noah Naujoks and Lennard Hartjes, who are recovering from ankle and knee issues, respectively.

Kik Pierie's foot injury and a knee problem for Jacky Donkor also mean those two are major doubts for this one.

Heerenveen possible starting lineup:

Noppert; Hall, Van Ottele, Van Beek, Kohlert; Brouwers, Tahiri, Olsson; Nunnely, Nicolaescu, Sahraoui

SBV Excelsior possible starting lineup:

Van Gassel; Horemans, Widell, Nieuwpoort, Zagre; Sandra, El Yaakoubi, Baas; Lamprou, Agrafiotis, Driouech

We say: Heerenveen 2-2 SBV Excelsior

Despite some recent head-to-heads producing low-scoring encounters, both sides have been involved in goal-laden matches this season.

Excelsior have been the early draw specialists, while Heerenveen will be happy to arrest a current three-game losing streak, so a close game could be on the cards.

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