🏏 Sun, 13 Sep 2026 14:30 CEST
SC Heerenveen
vs
Telstar
4-2-3-1 vs 3-4-2-1
Substitutes
Substitutes
Match Preview
- Heerenveen sit 12th on five points from five games, having won once, drawn twice and lost twice while scoring seven and conceding nine. Telstar are 15th on four points with a goal difference of minus six. Only a point separates them, and with leaders AZ Alkmaar already on 16 from six matches, whoever drops points here will find it harder to climb clear of the bottom half.
- Heerenveen have not won since the opening weekend, when they beat Twente 1-0 at home. Since then they drew 2-2 at Ajax, lost 0-2 at home to PEC Zwolle, drew 2-2 away at Willem II and went down 2-3 at home to leaders AZ last time out. Nine goals conceded in five games points to a defence that still needs tightening.
- Telstar are back in the Eredivisie after 47 years away. They announced themselves by winning 2-1 at NEC Nijmegen on the opening day, but since then they have shipped goals at home, losing 1-3 to Sparta Rotterdam and 0-4 to Ajax, drawing 2-2 with Cambuur and falling 0-1 at Twente. Eleven conceded in five matches is the blunt measure of top-flight life.
- Heerenveen's 4-2-3-1 meets Telstar's 3-4-2-1. Leading the home line is Dylan Vente, a 27-year-old who came through Feyenoord's academy and made his Champions League debut against Manchester City at 18 before spells at Roda JC and Hibernian in Scotland. How he pulls apart a Telstar back three featuring 35-year-old Marvin Peersman and the 195cm Valk will go a long way to deciding this.
- The creative hub is number ten Ringo Meerveld, an attacking midfielder who came through FC Den Bosch and became their record sale when he joined Willem II, and who contributes both goals and assists. To his right is Danish attacker Jacob Trenskow, signed from Kalmar FF for around €1.5 million, and on the left the 171cm Frenchman Maxence Rivera, a Saint-Étienne academy product who passed through Le Puy and Dunkerque.
- Telstar's attack has character too. Leading the line is Þórisson, an Iceland international who was schooled at Hannover 96 and broke through at KA Akureyri at home, later taking in Beerschot in Belgium and St. Louis City in MLS before arriving on loan from Sparta Rotterdam. The 188cm attacker is supported by Portuguese winger Rui Mendes, who scored 15 goals in the Eerste Divisie to drive Emmen's promotion, and midfielder Patrick Brouwer.
- The wide areas could tilt it. Telstar's left is patrolled by 31-year-old Jeff Hardeveld, a Feyenoord academy product with Eredivisie mileage at Utrecht, Heracles and Emmen, whose left-footed crossing and set-piece delivery drove the promotion play-off run that ended a 47-year exile. On the right is 21-year-old Gerald Alders, from Ajax's academy. Heerenveen counter with Greece international Vasilios Zagaritis, a Serie B title winner with Parma, and Norway U21 full-back Oliver Braude.
- The goalkeeping storylines are strong. Telstar have Ronald Koeman Jr., son of the Netherlands manager, born in Barcelona and at the club since 2021. The 31-year-old was central to their return to the top flight after 47 years and has been voted their player of the year. Heerenveen start 20-year-old academy graduate Bernt Klaverboer, first choice since September 2025, with 203cm Andries Noppert, the Netherlands' number one at the 2022 World Cup, waiting on the bench.
- For Isaiah Ahmed on the Telstar bench, this is a return to the club that raised him. The defensive midfielder, born in 2005, joined Heerenveen's youth setup from Alphense Boys and built his game around the physical strength his 186cm frame allows while coming through their U21 side. Born in Utrecht and holding dual Dutch and Curaçao nationality, he will be hoping for minutes on familiar ground.
- The substitutes could swing it. Heerenveen hold Luca Oyen, a left-footed winger developed at Genk whose father Davy Oyen played for Belgium, plus Marko Farji, a 10-cap Iraq international. Telstar can turn to Emirhan Demircan, a Türkiye U19 international from Bayern Munich's academy, and Jelani Seedorf, nephew of Clarence Seedorf, who was raised in Sparta Rotterdam's youth system.