Preview: SBV Excelsior vs Heracles - prediction, team news, lineups

Two teams that are struggling to make their mark in this season's Eredivisie will clash at Stadion Woudestein on Saturday, as SBV Excelsior and Heracles both look to steer themselves away from the relegation scrap.

The hosts sit 15th in the standings with 10 points, while the away team, who occupy the basement with six points, will come in search of consecutive league wins and three victories on the bounce across all competitions.

Match preview

Excelsior staged an immediate return to the Dutch top flight following their relegation to the Eerste Divisie in 2024, but things have not gone their way since earning promotion to the Eredivisie.

The hosts enter this fixture off the back of a thrilling 2-2 draw in their last Eredivisie fixture against fellow strugglers Telstar.

Although they would have wanted more from that encounter, the Kralingers will be pleased with a point, considering that they fought from two goals down to earn a share of the spoils.

Sitting just above the relegation places with 10 points after 11 fixtures, Ruben den Uil’s charges are well aware of the implications of suffering an eighth defeat of this term on Saturday, which could see them dragged into the demotion dogfight.

With only three wins in the current campaign, two of which came in front of their fans, the Rotterdam-based side will be hoping to make it their third victory on familiar territory, and their fourth overall this season.

Ahead of this contest, a reason for optimism is that the home side claimed a comfortable 4-0 victory over the visitors in the last instalment of this fixture in May 2024, before the hosts were relegated to the second tier at the end of the 2023–24 campaign.

Although their defensive struggles are well-documented, with 21 goals conceded across 11 contests, only five of those were recorded in home matches, while they have scored four times in those games.

After suffering four losses in the first four matches in October, Heracles seem to have found an antidote for their downward slide with back-to-back wins in all competitions.

Before the turn of the month, HAFC earned a 4-1 victory over NAC Breda to book their place in the next round of the Dutch Cup, and they followed that up with a dominant 8-2 win over fellow relegation candidates FC Zwolle to register their second triumph in the league this season.

However, that victory could not lift them off the foot of the table, as they are still rooted to the bottom of the standings with six points, four away from safety and Saturday’s opponents.

Nevertheless, the decision to axe Bas Sibum is paying off with Hendrie Kruzen steering the away side in the right direction, with two convincing wins, 12 goals scored, and only three shipped since the start of his reign as interim manager.

While they will still be buzzing from that impressive last time out, the visitors remain one of only three teams in the Dutch top division without a win in their travels so far this season, alongside NAC Breda and Volendam.

SBV Excelsior Eredivisie form:

SBV Excelsior form (all competitions):

Heracles Eredivisie form:

Heracles form (all competitions):

Team News

Jizz Hornkamp was the star of the show in Heracles' last victory, as he bagged a hat-trick to take his goal tally to six for his club this season.

The forward is a sure bet to start, and he will be looking to record another impactful showing, as his side struggles to move away from their current relegation trouble.

Sava-Arangel Cestic will sit out this encounter with a broken ankle, while Jeff Reine-Adelaide and Sem Scheperman are sidelined with knee and muscle injuries, respectively.

Winger Tristan van Gilst, on the other hand, is ruled out due to a long-term, unspecified health problem; hence, he remains unavailable for the visitors.

For the hosts, they will be without Simon Janssen and Lennard Hartjes, who has missed 30 matches due to a cruciate ligament tear.

Stijn Middendorp will also await the verdict of the medical staff to determine if he will be included in the manager’s plans for this weekend.

SBV Excelsior possible starting lineup:

Gasell; Zagre, Widell, Meissen, Bronkhorst; Tielemans, Yegoian, Carlen; Regt, Wlodarczyk, Fernandes

Heracles possible starting lineup:

Jansik, Wierik, Mirani, Hoorenbeeck, Mesik; Limbombe, Zamburek, Hrustik, Ould-Chikh; Hornkamp, Kulenovic

We say: SBV Excelsior 1-2 Heracles

Heracles look to be experiencing a new manager bounce, and given their impressive performances in their last two outings, they will back themselves to get a result.

In addition to that, they have found new zest in the attacking end of the pitch, having scored 12 in two games, and up against an Excelsior team that have been breached 21 times in the league already, we are backing the visitors to win 2-1.

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