🏏 Sun, 13 Sep 2026 12:15 CEST
Excelsior
vs
FC Utrecht
4-1-4-1 vs 3-4-3
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- A fixture that pits opposite ends of the early table against each other. Excelsior are sixth on 10 points from five games (3-1-1, 12 scored, five conceded, +7 goal difference), level on points with fifth-placed Ajax, while Utrecht sit 16th on two points (0-2-3, nine scored, 18 conceded, -9). Leaders AZ Alkmaar already have 16 points from six matches.
- Excelsior arrive in form, their last five reading W-L-W-W-D. Both away wins were emphatic clean sheets: 4-0 at Cambuur on the opening weekend and 3-0 at Willem II in round five. They also edged Sparta Rotterdam 2-1 at home and drew 2-2 at NEC Nijmegen, with their only defeat a 1-2 reverse against PSV Eindhoven.
- Utrecht, by contrast, are still looking for a first win and have shipped 18 goals in five matches. They were beaten 1-6 by PSV and 1-4 by AZ on their own pitch, then drew 3-3 at Sparta Rotterdam and 3-3 at home with GO Ahead Eagles. Nine goals scored suggests the attack functions; keeping the door shut is the problem.
- Arthur Zagre returns to a former club. The 24-year-old left-back came through Paris Saint-Germain's academy before joining Monaco in 2019, had loan spells at Dijon and Utrecht, then established himself at Excelsior, only to sign for Utrecht on a free transfer in the summer of 2026. Standing just 168cm, he covers ground relentlessly as a wing-back in the 3-4-3.
- Utrecht field a second former Excelsior man in Siebe Horemans, the 28-year-old Belgian right-back who came through Gent's academy and built his Eredivisie experience in Rotterdam. Alongside him in the back three is 198cm, 91kg Belgian centre-back Matisse Didden, 24, with 32-year-old Greece goalkeeper Vasilis Barkas, a left-footed 196cm keeper formerly of Celtic and AEK Athens, behind them.
- The shape battle is intriguing: Excelsior's 4-1-4-1 against Utrecht's 3-4-3. Rick Meissen, a natural centre-back at 190cm and 89kg, screens the back four at the base of midfield, tasked with shutting down the pockets Dani de Wit wants to attack. Utrecht stretch the pitch through Zagre and Danish right wing-back Niklas Vesterlund, 27, a former FC Copenhagen youth product.
- Excelsior's defence is built on height. Casper Widell, a 192cm left-footed Swede who captained his country at U16 and U17 level, occupies the left of the back four, with 188cm Feyenoord academy graduate Jan Plug, 21, alongside him. At right-back, 20-year-old German Eric da Silva Moreira, previously with Nottingham Forest and St. Pauli, provides pace going forward.
- Their midfield, by contrast, is compact and technical. Lennard Hartjes, 23 and 170cm, works alongside 168cm Georgian Irakli Yegoian, 22, both comfortable manipulating the ball in tight areas, with 20-year-old Aymen Sliti, who arrived from Feyenoord, linking play higher up. Bridging the physical gap to de Wit and 190cm Davy van den Berg will be a key duel.
- Utrecht's creative hub is Dani de Wit, the 28-year-old attacking midfielder who came through Ajax's academy, made his name at AZ Alkmaar and spent time in the Bundesliga with Bochum. His runs into the box are his trademark. Ahead of him, 21-year-old Adrian Blake, a Watford academy product with England U18 and U19 caps, and 22-year-old Angel Alarcon, formerly of Barcelona B and Porto, attack from wide.
- Both benches hold experience. Excelsior can turn to 33-year-old Iran winger Alireza Jahanbakhsh, capped 98 times with 17 goals, who in 2017-18 became the first Asian player to finish as top scorer in a major European league and has since played for Brighton, Feyenoord and AZ. Utrecht counter with Joris van Overeem, 32, who made 116 appearances for the club, and 193cm former Ajax centre-back Jakov Medic.