Almere City make their Eredivisie debut when they welcome FC Twente to the Yanmar Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
The top-flight new boys navigated their way through the Eerste Divisie's gruelling playoffs to book their place in the Eredivisie for the first time in their 22-year history.
Match preview
After finishing third in the regular season - one short of the automatic promotion places - Almere took the scenic route to win promotion last season.
Dramatic circumstances accompanied their quarter-final and semi-final successes, as a 94th-minute equaliser was needed to force their quarter against FC Eindhoven into extra time, before winning it in the 109th.
VVV-Venlo were their next opponents and a penalty shootout was required to see them off, with their opponents missing all four spot kicks - goalkeeper Nordin Bakker saving three.
Then FC Emmen, the side which entered the mini-competition by finishing in the Eredivisie's relegation playoff spot, were comfortably dispatched 4-1 on aggregate in the final.
After their foundation in 2001, this will be Almere's first season in the top flight, and has finally ended 18 consecutive seasons in the second tier.
Their pre-season went well too, remaining unbeaten across their four friendlies, scoring eight goals in the process.
Alex Pastoor's men have a tricky start though with Twente up first and Feyenoord and PSV Eindhoven to come in their first five matches - all sides who qualified for Europe.
While it will be a first top-flight meeting between the sides, the two did meet in the 2018-19 season after Twente's shock relegation.
Twente did the double and won the title that season, and they have not looked back since.
Much has changed in Enschede as there are no relegation fears now after the club qualified for the Europa Conference League for the second season running.
After a fourth-placed finish in 2021-22, Twente needed the playoff route to confirm their place in Europe this season.
Three sets of qualifying rounds need to be navigated for them to reach the group stage though, but they have made a solid enough start under new manager Joseph Oosting, who replaced Ron Jans over the summer.
Despite a minor scare against Hammarby, Twente came through to win 2-1 on aggregate, and they beat Latvian side Riga FC 2-0 on Thursday to take a strong lead into the second leg next week.
Reaching the competition proper will be the aim after falling just short last season in the playoff round, however, they were given an awful draw, being paired with eventual finalists Fiorentina.
They are up against it again though, as they are likely to face Turkish giants Fenerbahce - who have spent heavily this summer - should both make it through.
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Team News
Almere will start the season with largely the same side that won them promotion last season.
Sherel Floranus and Peer Koopmeiners, younger brother of Atalanta's Teun Koopmeiners, are their only two additions so far.
However, Ilias Alhaft is the only senior player who has departed, after he opted to join FC Noah in Armenia.
On the injury front, Kornelius Hansen and Faiz Mattoir are both absent with long-term issues.
Oosting went largely full strength for Twente's European tie in midweek, but it was two players being given a rare opportunity in the side who got their goals.
Alfons Sampsted and Daan Rots were not regulars last season but were paired on the right flank on Thursday and both netted in the win over Riga.
Naci Unuvar and Younes Taha have arrived to strengthen in wide areas after a summer of notable outgoings.
After scoring 14 and setting up a further 13 in the Eredivisie last season, Vaclav Cerny has left for Wolfsburg, while fellow winger Virgil Misidjan moved to Saudi Arabia.
Midfielder Ramiz Zerrouki is another key player who has departed, moving to Feyenoord, while Julio Pleguezuelo made a surprise move to Plymouth Argyle.
Almere City possible starting lineup:
Bakker; Floranus, Van Bruggen, Jacobs, Barbet; Pena, Ritmeester van de Kamp, Duijvestijn; Pascu, Van La Parra, Limbombe
FC Twente possible starting lineup:
Unnerstall; Sampsted, Hilgers, Propper, Brenet; Kjolo, Sadilek, Vlap; Rots, Ugalde, Van Wolfswinkel
We say: Almere City 1-3 FC Twente
Almere face a huge challenge in their first game at this level and will be hoping Twente are slightly jaded from their escapades in Europe in midweek.
Despite a new manager and many of their top performers leaving over the summer, Twente should still have enough to record an opening day victory.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Andrew Delaney
