The sophomore round of matches in the 2024-25 Eredivisie season pits RKC Waalwijk against Groningen at the Mandemakers Stadion on Saturday evening.
The hosts have some soul-searching to do having been comprehensively beaten in their opener, while the away side head into this weekend's affair on a high having claimed an emphatic win last time out.
Match preview
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Burdened with the responsibility of taking on the reigning champions on matchday one, Waalwijk were left red-faced on Saturday following a humiliating 5-1 defeat against PSV Eindhoven at the Philips Stadion.
Having ended last season on a rough patch, Henk Fraser's men could have really done with a positive start this term to help restore come confidence, but they were down and out by the sound of the half-time whistle in Eindhoven.
RKC have now won just one of their last 10 Eredivisie matches, either side of a 5-0 win over Heracles, which more or less guaranteed top-flight safety by the narrowest of margins during the previous campaign.
In that time, Waalwijk have been breached defensively on a whopping 19 occasions—eight of which have come at the hands of PSV across their most recent two domestic involvements.
With little time to dwell on a disappointing day at the office last time out, Saturday's hosts now go in search of redemption against an opposing side who have only managed to avoid defeat in one of the most recent five clashes.
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Groningen were keen to announce their return to the Eredivisie in style, and they did just that with a comprehensive 4-1 victory at the expense of fellow newcomers NAC Breda at the Euroborg on Friday.
A superb first-half display saw Dick Lukkien's men go into the interval with a commanding lead thanks to strikes from Leandro Bacuna, Rui Mendes and Marco Rente, before Jorg Schreuders rounded off the scoring midway through the second period.
That was in keeping with an excellent end to last season for Dick Lukkien's men, who won nine of their final 12 Eerste Divisie games en route to edging out Roda on goal difference in the race for automatic promotion.
Groningen are currently unbeaten in 13 competitive games across all competitions since suffering a 2-1 defeat to eventual winners Feyenoord in last year's KNVB-Beker semi-finals.
A win this weekend would see Saturday's visitors move up to a third of their points tally (18) and half of their games won (four) from the last top-flight showing which ended in a bottom-place finish, 14 points adrift of safety.
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Team News
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Nineteen-year-old Jorg Schreuders is definitely one to look out for here off the back of his man-of-the-match performance for Groningen.
Marvin Peersman came off with an injury scare in his side's final warm-up fixture against Heracles, but the defender was fit enough to start the win over NAC Breda.
Summer arrival Oskar Zawada had a debut to forget for Waalwijk, and it remains to be seen if the Poland international will retain his starting berth in this one.
Having returned to the hosts for a second spell, Richard van der Venne's consolation goal against PSV was perhaps the only positive thing of note, although the midfielder is a doubt for Saturday's affair.
Should Van der Venne be deemed unfit to participate, Reuven Niemeijer will be expected to return to the lineup, having been a surprise exclusion last time out.
RKC Waalwijk possible starting lineup:
Houwen; Meijers, Van den Buijs, Van Eijma, Lelieveld; Oukili, Roemeratoe; Lokesa, Van der Venne, Cleonise; Zawada
Groningen possible starting lineup:
Vaessen; Bacuna, Rente, Peersman, Stam; Schreuders, Hove, De Jonge, Valente; Mendes, Van Bergen
We say: RKC Waalwijk 1-1 Groningen
A flying start from Groningen will see Saturday's visitors make the trip to Waalwijk with their tails up.
The home side, meanwhile, will be seeking an instant response to a demolition last time out, and we can see the teams matching each other over the course of the 90 minutes.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
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