Preview: Willem II vs Almere City - prediction, team news, lineups

Just ninety minutes away from confirming their place in the final of the 2026 Eredivisie promotion play-offs, Willem II welcome Almere City to the Koning Willem II Stadion on Saturday evening.

Holding a narrow one-goal advantage after Wednesday’s first leg, the hosts are in pole position against an Almere City side who must defeat them for only the third time in 13 meetings to advance.

Match preview

Of all the teams competing in the promotion play-offs, Willem II ended their Eerste Divisie campaign the strongest - five wins from the final five matches - and that momentum has shown so far.

John Stegeman’s men claimed a 2-1 triumph over RKC Waalwijk in the first round, with a 1-0 away victory proving decisive after a 1-1 draw in the return leg where the Tilburg-based outfit were arguably unfortunate not to secure victory, despite having just 36% possession.

Continuing their flying form on the road, De Superkruiken made it seven consecutive away victories by beating Almere 1-0 in the semi-final first leg, putting themselves firmly in the driving seat for the grand finale, with FC Volendam lying in wait as things stand.

While Willem II will undoubtedly be dreaming about the prospects of an immediate return to the top flight after recently dropping down, Saturday’s hosts must complete the job this weekend in front of their fans.

Unbeaten in eight consecutive matches—all of which they have opened the scoring—Willem II will aim to start strongly once again and pile the pressure on their already under-fire visitors.

After winning their first three play-off matches—scoring a combined nine goals—Almere have suffered a dip in form, managing only a 2-2 draw against De Graafschap in their quarter-final second leg before succumbing to defeat at the hands of Willem II.

Still, Jeroen Rijsdijk’s men head to Tilburg optimistic of staging a comeback, although they must address their defensive frailties away from home, having conceded at least twice in four consecutive away matches.

De Zwarte Schapen’s attacking output also requires improvement; despite dominating possession for large spells of Wednesday’s first leg, they ultimately failed to convert pressure into meaningful chances.

Like Willem II, Almere dropped into the Eerste Divisie following relegation in the 2024–25 season. However, only one will have the opportunity to secure promotion back to the top tier of Dutch football later this month.

Saturday’s visitors were emphatically beaten 6-2 on aggregate the last time they faced Willem II in the play-offs, back in 2016 and now need a major response to avoid further disappointment at this level, a decade later.

Willem II Eredivisie Promotion Playoffs form:

Willem II form (all competitions):

Almere City Eredivisie Promotion Playoffs form:

Almere City form (all competitions):

Team News

For Willem II, there are no changes on the injury front, with Alessandro Ciranni, Amine Lachkar, Jari Schuurman and Anas Zarrouk all expected to miss out once again.

Despite the agony of missing a spot-kick that would have given his side a more commanding first-leg advantage, Mounir El Allouchi is expected to start for a third consecutive game.

Raffael Behounek has been ever-present for the hosts since November 25, forming a solid partnership with Justin Hoogma.

Ferdy Druijf has scored in three of Almere’s last four away matches—including April’s clash against Willem II—making him one to watch here.

After four consecutive matches with a goal or assist, Marley Dors endured an anonymous outing on Wednesday. However, the 20-year-old has already shown he could be the difference-maker this weekend.

Willem II possible starting lineup:

Didillon; Stam, Behounek, Hoogma, Tjoe a On; Doodeman, Twigt, Besselink, El Allouchi; Haen, Baartmans

Almere City possible starting lineup:

Kuijsten; Takahashi, Lawrence, Van de Blaak, Reith; De Haan, El Dahri; Dors, Jacobs, Poku; Druijf

We say: Willem II 2-1 Almere City (Willem II win 3-1 on aggregate)

Willem II have typically made light work of Almere in recent meetings. While Saturday’s clash is expected to be anything but easy, we still back the hosts to emerge triumphant and press home their first-leg advantage.

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