🏏 Sat, 5 Sep 2026 16:30 CEST
NEC Nijmegen
vs
Feyenoord
3-4-1-2 vs 4-3-3
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- NEC sit seventh on six points from three games, with a match in hand on third-placed Feyenoord, who have eight points from four. Both carry an identical +4 goal difference, so a home win would lift Nijmegen above the Rotterdam club. AZ Alkmaar (12 points) and PSV Eindhoven (10) have already pulled clear at the top, which raises the stakes for the chasing pack.
- The two sides arrive with mirrored home-and-away records. NEC's only defeat came at home to Telstar (1-2) on the opening weekend, after which they won 4-1 at Willem II and 3-1 at PEC Zwolle. Feyenoord have taken maximum points on the road, 1-0 at Sparta Rotterdam and 5-2 at Cambuur, yet drawn 2-2 in De Kuip against both Go Ahead Eagles and ADO Den Haag.
- Linssen, the 35-year-old centre-forward leading the NEC line, meets the club where he played European football. After leaving Feyenoord he also had a spell in Japan with Urawa Red Diamonds. At 1.70m he lives off positioning rather than power, and his knack of getting a shot away in the tightest of spaces makes him a genuine problem for his former back line.
- Japan international Tsuyoshi Watanabe starts in the middle of the Feyenoord defence. The 29-year-old moved from FC Tokyo to Belgium, and at Gent he passed 100 competitive appearances while wearing the captain's armband. His hang time in the air and sharp reading of danger will be tested immediately by the contrasting NEC pair of Linssen and Sierhuis.
- Dusan Tadic, 37, lines up in the NEC midfield. The Serbia playmaker won the Eredivisie and reached a Champions League semi-final with Ajax, having earlier played for Southampton, Twente and Groningen. His composure in possession and final pass remain intact, and alongside Suriname international Chery, whose left foot supplies through balls and shots from range, he gives a young side its creative core.
- Tactically this is NEC's 3-4-1-2 against Feyenoord's 4-3-3. Nijmegen use 20-year-old Dane Clement Bischoff, a Brondby product with Red Bull Salzburg on his CV, on the outside of the midfield four. Feyenoord counter with right-back Givairo Read, named third captain at 20 after becoming the youngest player ever to appear for Volendam's second team at 15, who will push high up the flank.
- Control of central midfield could settle it. Feyenoord screen their back four with Belgium international Vanhoutte, who made 106 appearances for Union Saint-Gilloise, and 1.86m Morocco midfielder Targhalline, a Marseille academy graduate, while Netherlands Under-21 man Zeqiri links play after coming through the Sparta Rotterdam and Feyenoord academies. NEC answer with Croatian anchor Nejasmic, schooled at Hajduk Split and Osijek, whose covering range is his calling card.
- NEC's back three blends youth with mileage: 36-year-old Nuytinck in the centre, flanked by 20-year-old Almugera Kabar (1.86m) and 22-year-old Tobias Storm (1.76m). The left-footed, 1.91m Nuytinck spent years in Serie A with Udinese and Sampdoria and won three Belgian titles at Anderlecht. With the 1.92m Ignacio Ferri leading the Feyenoord line, the aerial duels should be a contest in themselves.
- Both benches carry serious weight. Feyenoord can turn to Sem Steijn, the 2024-25 Eredivisie top scorer and player of the year signed from Twente for a club-record fee, along with right winger Goncalo Borges, a roughly nine-million-euro arrival from Porto, and Shaqueel van Persie, son of Robin. NEC's alternatives include 1.93m Iceland attacking midfielder Willumsson, who broke through at Go Ahead Eagles, and Cape Verde international Jamiro Monteiro.