Excelsior vs Heerenveen Predictions

A draw for Excelsior and defeat for Heerenveen last weekend sees the two sides level in the Eredivisie on five points from their opening five games, with both sides on a minus three goal difference. The two clubs square-off in the Eredivisie on Sunday for a match that could go either way, and the history of this fixture suggests we will see goals at both ends of the pitch and one team take home all three points.

Excelsior made the trip to Tilburg last weekend and went in at the break 1-0 up against Willem II, thanks to a thirty-first minute strike from midfielder Bruins. The hosts continued to see more of the ball and look the more likely to score in the second half, but once again it was Excelsior who made their chances count via an eighty-second minute goal from Mahmudov which should have sealed all three points for the visitors.

However, Willem II always carry a threat going forward and it was a usual suspect that brought the home side back into the game in the eighty-second minute, when Fran Sol scored his fifth league goal of the season. Still, most sides would have seen their way to victory being a goal to the good with just four minutes of the ninety remaining, but Excelsior’s decision to drop deep and put every man behind the ball came back to haunt them as Kristinsson scored a dramatic equaliser for Willem II in the eighty-eighth minute.

What felt like a win for Willem II must have tasted like a bitter defeat for Excelsior having thrown away a two goal lead in the last eight minutes of the match. Defending has been an issue for Excelsior in the early stages of the new season, with just one clean sheet kept in their opening five games.

That goal for Mahmudov makes the Macedonian Excelsior’s top scorer in the league with two goals, but this weekends hosts must start to get better service into their front men or its going to be another tough season for the Rotterdam club.

Heerenveen had already lost one of their Eredivisie games this season by five goals to three and there would have been fantastic money on the same scoreline being produced during their home game against Heracles last weekend.

Dalmau broke the deadlock in the twelfth minute to put Heracles in front at the Abe Lenstra Stadion, but the pair went in level at the break thanks to a first half stoppage time equaliser from Lammers. Just three minutes after the restart and Heerenveen found themselves behind again, with Dutch midfielder Duarte doing the damage this time to restore Heracles’ lead.

The home side weren’t behind for long though after Lammers converted a fifty-third minute penalty to make the scoreline 2-2. Ten minutes after being pegged back by their hosts, Heracles took the lead for the third time in the match, this time Sweden’s Peterson continued his good start to the season in front of goal.

Amazingly, just four minutes passed before Heerenveen scored their third equalising goal of the game through Norwegian midfielder Thorsby, who has a habit of scoring goals early in the season. The travelling fans only had to wait a further five minutes before seeing their side get back in front, with Peterson netting his second of the game to make it 4-3 to Heracles.

This game always felt like it would produce at least one more goal and the way the match had gone you would have put your money on the hosts scoring another equaliser, but instead Osman scored the visitors fifth goal of the game with two minutes remaining to condemn Heerenveen to a second 5-3 defeat in the space of three weeks.

Clearly this weekends guests don’t have a problem scoring goals, with midfielder Thorsby already onto four goals for the season and teammate Lammers just one behind the Norwegian’s tally. However, similarly to last season its at the back which is so far costing Heerenveen points and places in the Eredivisie table with fourteen goals conceded in just five matches.

We’re confident that Excelsior will win at home this weekend, but that both teams will score in the process. Five of the last six encounters between Excelsior and Heerenveen have seen both teams score, and Excelsior have won two of their last four matches against Heerenveen. Three of Excelsior’s five Eredivisie games this season have seen both teams score, while all five of Heerenveen’s Eredivisie games this season have ended with both teams getting on the scoreboard. As far as a final score goes, we’re backing a 3-2 win for the hosts as we’re expecting an end to end game between two teams that like to attack and struggle to defend.