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

Without a win in 15 matches between them, relegation-threatened NAC Breda and SBV Excelsior clash at Rat Verlegh Stadion on Friday, both seeking a return to winning ways in this weekend’s Eredivisie contest.

Second-bottom NAC head into the 22nd round without maximum points since November, while their Excelsior visitors are still chasing a first victory of 2026, having ended last year by picking up nine points from four games to close out 2025.

Match preview

When NAC defeated Go Ahead Eagles 1-0 in the Eredivisie at the start of November, Carl Hoefkens’s team claimed that win on the back of thrilling draws against PEC Zwolle (2-2) and Heerenveen (3-3).

However, the Breda-based side have not added to their three league triumphs since that success, even if it has not been for the want of trying.

Having fired blanks in five of their next seven Eredivisie games, including a goalless encounter at FC Groningen to begin 2026, Parel van het Zuiden have had near misses in their past three games, offering encouragement to supporters in Breda.

They fought back from 2-0 and 3-2 down against NEC in mid-January, only to lose 4-3 after Kodai Sano scored a 94th-minute winner for the Nijmegen-based club, led PSV Eindhoven 2-1 in Eindhoven until Armando Obispo netted a late equaliser for the defending league champions, and came from 2-0 down against FC Twente last time out to secure a point.

While they have conceded eight goals in the past three rounds, the upturn in their final-third end product bodes well for a side that had netted only three goals across the eight preceding gameweeks.

Those results offer encouragement for the 17th-placed side on 16 points, as they could move out of the relegation positions if they win and 16th-placed Heracles (17 points) and FC Volendam (18) slip up.

The recent improvement in their attacking output should fill the home support with optimism as they strive to end a 10-match winless spell, even if the travelling fans will feel similarly positive, given their team’s four-game streak of draws.

Given the chasm in quality, Excelsior starting 2026 with a heavy 5-1 defeat at PSV was no shame for the Rotterdam-based club, and they have since responded with four straight draws against Telstar (2-2), AZ Alkmaar (1-1), Twente (0-0) and Ajax (2-2).

The Kralingers’ winless start to the year follows a positive sequence of results to close out 2025, when they accrued three wins from their final four matches, including a first victory over Ajax since 2007 and their first-ever success in Amsterdam.

Despite the ongoing winless run, Ruben den Uil’s team have at least avoided defeat in four consecutive rounds, placing them 13th in the table on 23 points, six clear of Heracles in the relegation play-off spot and seven ahead of this weekend’s hosts.

Having returned to the Eredivisie this season after a one-year absence, Roodzwarten will hope to claim a positive result on Friday’s visit to Breda to avoid being dragged into a relegation battle in the final third of the season.

NAC Breda Eredivisie form:

SBV Excelsior Eredivisie form:

Team News

Boy Kemper was withdrawn after 53 minutes against Twente last weekend, making the wide defender doubtful for round 22’s fixture with Excelsior.

If unavailable, the Breda-based side will have to make do without a defender with five goal contributions (three goals, two assists) on Friday, meaning he could join the ill Mohamed Nassoh and injured Fredrik Jensen on the sidelines.

Without Nassoh and Kemper, both of whom have scored three league goals each, and the recently departed five-goal forward Sydney van Hooijdonk, who was sold to Estrela Amadora in late January, Hoefkens will rely on Charles-Andreas Brym and Moussa Soumano to come up trumps on Friday.

Soumano has scored three goals in as many rounds, while Brym has netted two and assisted one in the same period, highlighting their recent importance to the side.

While loan arrival from FC Utrecht Miliano Jonathans has scored twice in the past four gameweeks for Excelsior, the attacking onus remains on Noah Naujoks (six goals) and Irakli Yegoian (three) to make an impact from the start.

Although only two of Naujoks’s six strikes have come away from home, the attacking midfielder’s two match-winning goals demonstrate his ability to influence games.

Even though the visitors have no confirmed absentees, Mike van Duinen will be assessed ahead of Friday’s match to ascertain his level of involvement in Breda.

NAC Breda possible starting lineup:

Bielica; Valerius, Greiml, Odoi, Hillen, Lucassen; Balard, Holtby, Sowah; Brym, Soumano

SBV Excelsior possible starting lineup:

Van Gassel; Bronkhorst, Widell, Meissen, Zagre; Yegoian, Hartjes; Fernandes, Naujoks, De Regt; Bergraaf

We say: NAC Breda 2-2 SBV Excelsior

NAC’s recent goalscoring spree suggests they have the firepower to trouble anyone in the division, but their tendency to be leaky at the back remains a major concern.

With Excelsior becoming the league’s ultimate draw specialists, another tie seems the most logical outcome on Friday.

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