Feyenoord begin the defence of their Eredivisie title with a home encounter against Fortuna Sittard on Sunday afternoon.
With the visitors to De Kuip only finishing in 13th position last season, Arne Slot will be expecting the perfect start to their 2023-24 league campaign.
Match preview
© Reuters
At one stage earlier this year, it appeared that Slot would be departing Feyenoord having guiding them to a hugely-impressive Dutch title, upsetting the likes of Ajax and PSV Eindhoven in style.
However, he instead decided to extend his contract and look to establish a new era in his homeland, keeping their rivals behind them in what is viewed as a three-horse race for the trophy.
Key players such as Orkun Kokcu and Danilo have left for pastures new, but Slot has responded by acquiring a wide array of talent, including the likes of Ramiz Zerrouki, Calvin Stengs and Ayase Ueda for over €22m.
While Feyenoord deserve their favourites tag, they suffered defeat in the Dutch Super Cup last weekend, losing out 1-0 to PSV who netted during the closing stages.
PSV showed in the Champions League qualifier against Sturm Graz that followed that they are already performing at a high level, and that increases the pressure on Feyenoord to make a positive start on Sunday.
As far as Fortuna Sittard are concerned, they lost nine of their final 13 matches of last season to drop down into mid-table, a far cry from their form earlier in the year.
Nevertheless, they still finished comfortably above the relegation zone, eight points to be precise, and Danny Buijs is tasked with trying to move the club back into the top 10 as a bare minimum.
Former Netherlands Under-21 international Kaj Sierhuis will be looking to kick-start his career after a dismal time at Reims in France, while Mitchell Dijks could prove to be a shrewd piece of business at left-back.
Fortuna ended pre-season with victories over Millwall and VVV Venlo, suggesting that they are well prepared for a task of this magnitude, and they only lost 4-2 on home territory when these teams last met in February.
- L
- D
- L
- L
- W
- W
Team News
Lutsharel Geertruida is expected to line up in the Feyenoord defence after a potential move to RB Leipzig allegedly collapsed earlier this week.
Minimal changes, if any, are expected to be made from the team that started against PSV, with Zerrouki and Stengs both in line to make their first Eredivisie starts for Feyenoord.
Club-record addition Ueda faces starting on the substitutes' bench having only linked up with his new club just over a week ago.
Although Fortuna have made a number of signings this summer, it is questionable how many will start from the opening whistle.
Former Wolverhampton Wanderers forward Paul Gladon may get the nod ahead of Sierhuis, while Oguzhan Ozyakup and Deroy Duarte may keep Loreintz Rosier out of the midfield for the time being.
Feyenoord possible starting lineup:
Bijlow; Pedersen, Geertruida, Hancko, Hartman; Wieffer, Zerrouki; Jahanbakhsh, Stengs, Paixao; Gimenez
Fortuna Sittard possible starting lineup:
Pandur; Pinto, Guth, Siovas, Vita; Ozyakup, Duarte; Noslin, Ferati, Embalo; Gladon
We say: Feyenoord 3-0 Fortuna Sittard
Fortuna head into this fixture with nothing to lose, as well as the bonus of getting arguably the toughest match of the season out of the way. Although the potential is there for an upset, we cannot look past Feyenoord to control this contest and canter to victory.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.