Preview: Heracles vs Telstar - prediction, team news, lineups

A crunch battle at the bottom sees Heracles welcome Telstar to the Asito Stadium on Saturday in gameweek 15 of the 2025-26 Eredivisie season.

Sitting 16th and 18th in the league standings heading into this weekend's meeting, the teams have been underwhelming over the course of the whole campaign, although results lately have been encouraging.

Match preview

Heracles' run of four defeats from their final five outings of the 2024-25 season was a sign of things to come as the Almelo-based outfit lost 10 of their opening 11 matches across all competitions this term.

However, a 4-1 KNVB Beker triumph over NAC Breda has since ushered in an upturn in form for De Heraclieden, who were on a three-game winning streak before Saturday's 1-1 stalemate against Fortuna Sittard.

Recently handed the reins following the end of Hendrie Kruzen's interim spell as Heracles manager, Ernest Faber will be keen to make a winning start and continue his side's recent renaissance in their quest to pull away from the relegation zone.

Saturday's clash will see Heracles and Telstar go head-to-head in the Dutch top flight for the first time, with 16 of the previous 19 matches having taken place in the Eerste Divisie.

Picking up wins in each of the most recent five editions, this weekend's hosts have enjoyed the upper hand in this fixture. They will be confident of securing another win, especially in front of their fans, after scoring 12 times across the last two matches.

Returning to the highest level of Dutch football after nearly five decades away has unsurprisingly been a tall order for Telstar, and the Eredivisie newcomers will head to Almelo bottom of the league table with 10 points from 14 matches so far.

Anthony Correia's men have managed just two wins all season long, the fewest of any team in the division. At the same time, their eight defeats are second only to Heracles' tally of nine off the back of a 2-1 loss to Feyenoord last time out.

Nonetheless, De Witte Leeuwen are only four points shy of safety as things stand and have enough time to get their act together to avoid an immediate return to the second tier.

Winning just once in six away matches, Telstar's away form could really do with some beefing up, although their sole victory on the road did come at the home of reigning champions PSV Eindhoven back in August.

Going up against an opposing side that have conceded a league-high 36 goals, including the opener in five of their most recent seven outings, Saturday's visitors should head into the clash with cautious optimism in the first of December's four-game slate.

Heracles Eredivisie form:

Heracles form (all competitions):

Telstar Eredivisie form:

Telstar form (all competitions):

Team News

Sava-Arangel Cestic last featured in January 2024 due to an ankle problem he has been nursing since then, and the Serbian is unavailable to feature for Heracles.

Jeff Reine-Adelaide has not played for the hosts since making his debut against Utrecht back in August, as he continues to nurse a knee problem, while Sem Scheperman is yet to recuperate from a muscle injury.

Luka Kulenovic has been directly involved in five goals in his last five matches, but the forward's involvement this weekend is uncertain after he came off injured against Sittard.

Kay Tejan came off the bench to good effect for Telstar against Feyenoord, and the 28-year-old, who has started just five league outings, could be rewarded with a place in the XI here.

Mohamed Hamdaoui missed the aforementioned game through suspension but is now eligible to feature for the visitors, although it remains to be seen if he will be given the nod to start.

Heracles possible starting lineup:

Jansink; Mesik, Hoorenbeeck, Mirani, Te Wierik; Ould-Chikh, Zamburek, Hrustic, Limbombe; Hornkamp, Engels

Telstar possible starting lineup:

Koeman; Bakker, Offerhaus, Nwankwo; Noslin, Rossen, Owusu, Hardeveld; Brouwer, Van de Kamp, Hetli

We say: Heracles 2-1 Telstar

Only PSV and NEC have scored more home goals this term than Heracles, who are averaging almost three per game.

Telstar, on the other hand, have conceded the joint-fewest goals on the road, but we can see them coming away empty-handed this weekend, albeit by only a narrow margin.

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