Off the back of their worst league finish in a decade, Feyenoord begin their 2021-22 campaign with a trip to Tilburg to tackle Willem II on Sunday.
The hosts, who rallied in the final weeks of last season to avoid relegation, seek to right their wrongs from last time out and make life easier for themselves this time around.
Match preview
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Feyenoord booked their spot in this year's Conference League courtesy of a 6-0 aggregate victory over Swiss outfit Luzern.
Arne Slot's men claimed 3-0 victories in both legs, the most recent of which was at De Kuip on Thursday courtesy of Alireza Jahanbakhsh's first-half brace and Luis Sinisterra's strike just after the interval.
De Stadionclub also claimed a 3-0 win over Atletico Madrid in between their two European ties and are firing on all cylinders ahead of the new campaign.
Their first task comes against a Willem II side who they have beaten in 14 of the last 18 encounters, while recording shut-outs in 10 of those triumphs.
Courtesy of a 5-0 drubbing in February, Sunday's visitors completed a second consecutive league double over their hosts.
After ending the last Eredivisie campaign with back-to-back wins, Willem II enjoyed a flawless pre-season run, claiming victories over Quick Boys, Excelsior and most recently Lierse SK.
In their last involvement, Zeljko Petrovic's men raced to a commanding four-goal lead thanks to strikes from John Yeboah, Derrick Kohn, Elton Kabangu and Kwasi Okyere Wriedt, before Jens Naessens pulled one back from the penalty spot for his side.
The Tricolores, now in their eighth Eredivisie season on the bounce, recorded their second-lowest league finish since gaining promotion last time out following a disappointing campaign overall.
Only the relegated duo of ADO Den Haag and VVV-Venlo lost more matches and let in more goals than Saturday's hosts, who have major issues to address if they are to avoid beating the drop once again.
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Team News
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Lutsharel Geertruida is ruled out with an ankle injury which has seen him sit out each of his side's last 14 games in all competitions.
Following his stellar performance in last time out, Alireza Jahanbakhsh will be a major absentee for Feyenoord after he picked up a groin injury.
The visitors will also be without the services of Bernardo Silva and Aliou Balde, who miss out through knee and muscle injuries respectively.
Thirty-year-old Miquel Nelom is a major doubt for the contest after he was limited to only seven appearances for the hosts last term due to a knee problem.
Willem II possible starting lineup:
Ruiter; Michelis, Kohn, Bergstrom, Owusu; Saddiki, Llonch, Spieringhs; Okyere Wriedt, Kabangu, Nunnely
Feyenoord possible starting lineup:
Bijlow; Malacia, Senesi, Trauner, Pedersen; Toornstra, Kokcu, Til; Sinisterra, Linssen, Bozenik
We say: Willem II 0-3 Feyenoord
Feyenoord have been imperious this term, sweeping aside all that has been brought before them. We expect that trend to continue in their visit to Willem II as we back them to secure a comfortable victory at the sound of the full-time whistle.
Top tip
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Feyenoord win with a probability of 43.4%. A win for Willem II had a probability of 31.98% and a draw had a probability of 24.6%.
The most likely scoreline for a Feyenoord win was 1-2 with a probability of 9.06%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 0-1 (8.76%) and 0-2 (6.88%). The likeliest Willem II win was 2-1 (7.58%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (11.52%). The actual scoreline of 0-4 was predicted with a 1.4% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Feyenoord would win this match.
