In search of a winning start to their league campaign, Cambuur welcome SBV Excelsior to the Cambuur Stadion on Saturday in the opening round of the matches of the 2022-23 Eredivisie season.
On the other hand, the away side will be looking to make an early impression on their return to the Dutch top-flight following a three-year absence.
Match preview
Cambuur played out a 1-1 stalemate against RKC Waalwijk in their final pre-season friendly at the Mandemakers Stadion on Saturday evening.
Dennis Haar's men went behind to Lennerd Daneels's opener in the 39th minute but managed to draw level before the half-time whistle through Milan Smit.
It is now just one victory from five warm-up fixtures for the Yellow-Blues, who claimed an impressive ninth-place finish during the just-concluded campaign.
Coming up next is the challenge of an opposing side currently on a run of four consecutive defeats in this fixture by a combined score of 15-3.
Having recently ended a six-game winless run on home turf, Saturday's hosts now seek consecutive wins in front of their fans for the first time since March.
Excelsior fell to a 3-1 defeat against Heerenveen at the Abe Lenstra Stadion on Saturday to round off their preparation for the new campaign.
Marinus Dijkhuizen's men found themselves two goals down to strikes from Joost van Aken and Amin Sarr before Luuk Admiraal pulled one back, only for van Aken to seal the deal with his second of the contest.
Since their penalty-shootout victory over ADO Den Haag which confirmed promotion to the Eredivisie, the Kralingers have claimed just one victory in the subsequent five outings.
Off the back of three defeats in a row away from home, Saturday's visitors will be keen to turn things around on the road starting with this weekend's trip to Leeuwarden.
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Team News
Nineteen-year-old Milan Smit will be looking to deliver the goods once again for Cambuur having scored three times in his last three appearances.
Meanwhile, the home side are set to be without Maxim Gullit whose last outing came back in February since which he has been down with a knee injury.
Silvester van der Water is also not expected to play any part in this one as the forward continues to battle with a long-term leg injury.
Excelsior's Nikolas Agrafiotis remains a major doubt for Saturday's contest due to a knock which has seen him miss five games on the spin.
Michael Chacon received his marching orders in his last league outing of the just-concluded season, and the Dutchman will serve a suspension this weekend.
Cambuur possible starting lineup:
Virginia; Sambissa, Schmidt, Smand, Tol; Jacobs, Paulissen, Hoedemakers, Uldrikis; Bangura, Smit
SBV Excelsior possible starting lineup:
Van Gassel; El Yaakoubi, Horemans, Nieuwpoort, Tjoe; Baas, Eijgenraam, Goudmijn; Donkor, Driouech, Kharchouch
We say: Cambuur 1-0 SBV Excelsior
Both teams are a tad low on confidence heading into this one, and that could make for a nervy and cagey affair. That said, we are tipping Cambuur to carry the day, albeit by only a narrow margin.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
