Heerenveenvs.Utrecht

Match preview

Despite putting on a solid display, Heerenveen just about came up short in their season opener on Sunday against Ajax following a narrow 1-0 defeat at the Johan Cruyff Arena in Amsterdam.

Making his managerial debut last time out as the youngest head coach in Eredivisie history, Robin van Persie commended his side's effort after the game on a day when things could have easily turned out differently.

Nonetheless, it is now five league games without a victory dating back to the previous campaign for De Superfriezen, whose most recent competitive win came against Heracles on April 14.

Heerenveen have been largely underwhelming at both ends of the pitch during that time, having found the back of the net on just three occasions while conceding a whopping 15 goals.

In the second of three straight matches against a top-seven team from last season, Saturday's hosts will now look to kickstart their league journey on home turf, where they hit Rayo Vallecano for five in their final warm-up outing.

Utrecht came away with maximum points from their curtain-raiser against PEC Zwolle courtesy of a 1-0 triumph on Sunday afternoon when the sides locked horns at Stadion Galgenwaard.

Making his first league start since the turn of the year, Ole ter Haar Romeny grabbed the winning strike quarter of an hour into the contest to drag Ron Jans's men over the line in a tight affair.

That was a first opening-day win since 2021 for De Domstedelingen, who narrowly beat Sparta Rotterdam on that occasion before playing out a 2-2 draw against RKC Waalwijk and a 2-0 defeat to PSV Eindhoven in the subsequent two editions.

Having come close to qualifying for European football last time out prior to their defeat to Go Ahead Eagles in the Conference League playoffs semi-finals, Utrecht will have their sights set on securing continental football this season.

One of the biggest areas of improvement for Saturday's visitors going forward is their record on the road, as they boast just two wins in nine competitive away games leading up to the trip to Heerenveen.

Heerenveen Eredivisie form:

FC Utrecht Eredivisie form:

Team News

Utrecht's Kevin Gadellaa remains unavailable for selection as he continues to nurse a knee injury, which has seen him fail to feature since the early exchanges of last season.

Twenty-four-year-old Ole ter Haar Romeny has netted in three of his last appearances for the away side and will be looking to come up with the goods once again.

Paxten Aaronson is back in contention having made his return to action last time out from representing the United States Olympics team in France.

Pawel Bochniewicz endured a rough outing for Heerenveen against Ajax and was perhaps a tad lucky not to have been sent off, but the defender is expected to retain his place in the XI.

Summer arrival Jacob Trenskow will be pushing for a first start here after making his debut for the hosts off the bench in the aforementioned game.

Heerenveen possible starting lineup:

Van der Hart; Kohlert, Bochniewicz, Kersten, Hall; Sebaoui, Olsson, Van Ee, Al-Saed; Karlsbakk, Brouwers

FC Utrecht possible starting lineup:

Barkas; Horemans, Van der Hoorn, Viergever, El Karouani; Engwanda, Iqbal; Romeny, Toornstra, Aaronson; Min

We say: Heerenveen 1-1 FC Utrecht

Previews by email