🏏 Sat, 15 Aug 2026 16:30 CEST
Willem II
vs
NEC Nijmegen
4-4-1-1 vs 3-4-2-1
Substitutes
Substitutes
Match Preview
- Two sides still searching for their first point of the campaign meet on matchday two. Willem II sit 17th on a goal difference of -3 after a 4-1 defeat away at GO Ahead Eagles, while NEC are 12th on -1 having been beaten 1-2 at home by newly promoted Telstar. Leaders Excelsior already have three points, so both hosts and visitors are simply trying to get off the mark.
- The shape battle is intriguing: Willem II line up 4-2-3-1 against NEC's 3-1-4-2. Adam Tahaoui, the 21-year-old former Vitesse midfielder standing just 171cm, is the lone screen in front of the back three, so Willem II's attacking trio of Jayden Slory, Uriel van Aalst and Esel Gurbuz will be looking to occupy the channels either side of him.
- NEC pair Bryan Linssen with Chery up front. At 35, the 170cm centre-forward remains one of the Eredivisie's shrewdest penalty-box operators after spells at Feyenoord, Vitesse and Groningen, plus a stint with Urawa Red Diamonds in Japan. Willem II counter with size: 190cm Justin Hoogma, formerly of Hoffenheim and Greuther Furth, alongside 188cm Finn Stam of AZ Alkmaar fame.
- The Nijmegen midfield band contains genuine pedigree. Dusan Tadic, 37, spent years starring for Ajax and Southampton before returning to the Netherlands, and beside him Cape Verde international Jamiro Monteiro brings the craft he showed at Cambuur, Metz and Philadelphia Union. Tracking both is the biggest defensive question Willem II must answer.
- Chery operates as the creative hub, a left-footed Suriname international whose career has taken in QPR, Maccabi Haifa, Twente and Cambuur. His through balls and shooting from range make Willem II's double pivot crucial: 20-year-old Kasper Bogaert, an AZ Alkmaar product, and 30-year-old Belgian Alessandro Ciranni, previously with Genk and Fortuna Sittard, must stop him turning.
- The age profiles could hardly be more different. Willem II start teenagers van Aalst and Gurbuz, 20-year-old Bogaert and 21-year-old Per van Loon, while NEC lean on Tadic at 37 and Linssen at 35, with 191cm Bram Nuytinck, a veteran of Udinese, Sampdoria and Anderlecht now back at his old club NEC, waiting on the bench.
- Watch the flanks. Willem II's back line features Nathan Tjoe-A-On, 24, who has previously played for Heerenveen, Swansea and Excelsior, plus 21-year-old van Loon. NEC answer with 23-year-old French right-back B. Pereira in the four-man band, a compact 172cm defender whose pace and agility should produce repeated duels with Feyenoord-schooled Slory.
- Both benches carry match-changers. NEC can call on Emre Mor, the 29-year-old formerly of Borussia Dortmund and Celta Vigo, 193cm Iceland international Willumsson, who broke through in the Eredivisie with Go Ahead Eagles before joining via Birmingham, and 22-year-old Manchester United academy graduate Hansen-Aaroen. Willem II hold back 192cm, 34-year-old Thomas Verheydt as a late aerial option.
- The goalkeeping contrast is notable too. NEC's G. Kreta is a 26-year-old Argentine raised in Malaga's academy who sharpened his reflexes in Spain's second and third tiers with Castellon and Logrones. Willem II, meanwhile, shipped four goals on the opening weekend and need a defensive reset in front of No.31 Karst de Leeuw.