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Sports Mole previews Sunday’s Eredivisie clash between Go Ahead Eagles and SBV Excelsior, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.
Go Ahead Eagles and SBV Excelsior draw the curtain on round 10 of the 2025-26 Eredivisie season with a meeting at De Adelaarshorst on Sunday evening.
The teams are currently separated by one point in the Eredivisie table ahead of this weekend’s clash, which could easily swing in either direction.
Match preview
After last season’s historic run to KNVB Beker glory, Go Ahead Eagles picked up one of their biggest-ever wins in Thursday’s Europa League clash against Premier League side Aston Villa.
Melvin Boel‘s men just about fell short against PSV Eindhoven five days prior and looked set to come away empty-handed once again when Evann Guessand opened the scoring four minutes in before goals from Mathis Suray and Mats Deijl completed a remarkable turnaround.
That was a second straight continental victory for the pride of the IJssel Kowet, who have, however, failed to come out on top in any of their last three domestic assignments.
Consequently, Go Ahead Eagles are 12th in the standings at the moment, and a defeat in their upcoming encounter could see them drop into the bottom three depending on results elsewhere.
Sunday’s hosts will need to address their shakiness at the back if they are to return to winning ways, having failed to keep a clean sheet in seven straight outings since beating Volendam and PEC Zwolle 3-0 and 2-0 respectively back in September.
Off the back of consecutive losses against PSV Eindhoven and Heerenveen, Excelsior welcomed Fortuna Sittard to Stadion Woudestein on Sunday in need of a lift, which they secured courtesy of a narrow 1-0 triumph.
Gyan de Regt‘s early strike was enough to get the job done for Ruben den Uil‘s men, who rode their luck a bit en route to victory and eventually came away not only with maximum points but also a second shutout of the campaign.
The Kralingers’ most recent win was enough to lift them out of the drop zone into 13th place, but they are only just two points clear of relegation danger leading up to the trip to Rotterdam.
Since regaining promotion back to the Eredivisie in 2022, Sunday’s visitors have only won one of their four meetings against Go Ahead Eagles, a cause for concern for the side with the second-fewest goals scored in the division (eight) this term.
However, five of Excelsior’s eight goals so far have come in the first 15 minutes of matches, and another early goal this weekend could set the tone for securing a positive result.
Go Ahead Eagles Eredivisie form:
Go Ahead Eagles form (all competitions):
SBV Excelsior Eredivisie form:
Team News
Pim Saathof will not play any part for Go Ahead Eagles here, having not featured since returning from a loan spell at Kongsvinger due to a knee problem.
Attacking duo Victor Edvardsen and Soren Tengstedt are also out of the fold for Sunday’s clash, while Jakob Breum and Gerrit Nauber will need to pass late fitness checks after coming off injured against Villa on Thursday.
Long-term absentee Lennard Hartjes remains out of contention for Excelsior with a knee problem, and the midfielder is still a considerable way off returning to action.
Fresh from finally opening his account for the visitors at the ninth time of asking, Gyan de Regt will be targeting another meaningful contribution to repay his manager’s unwavering faith.
Making his first start of the season against Fortuna, Chris-Kevin Nadje was forced off in the final stages with an injury scare, making his involvement this weekend uncertain.
Go Ahead Eagles possible starting lineup:
De Busser; Deijl, Twigt, Kramer, James; Meulensteen, Rahmouni; Margaret, Goudmijn, Suray; Smit
SBV Excelsior possible starting lineup:
Van Gassel; Bronkhorst, Widell, Meissen, Zagre; Carlen, Schouten; Mitrovic, Yegoian, De Regt; Wlodarczyk
We say: Go Ahead Eagles 2-1 SBV Excelsior
There is little to choose between the teams from a defensive standpoint, but Go Ahead Eagles have been the better side at the top end of the pitch.
The onus is more on the hosts to seize control of proceedings in their quest for all three points, and we are backing them to rise to the occasion and emerge triumphant after 90 minutes.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
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