NEC vs Go Ahead Eagles Preview: Chasing Balance in Eredivisie

NEC Nijmegen return to the Goffertstadion on Sunday with their confidence rattled and their legs heavy, facing a Go Ahead Eagles side that attack with abandon and defend with a shrug.

Seven rounds into the Eredivisie season, Dick Schreuder’s team sit 10th with seven points from six games. On paper, that is respectable. On the pitch, the alarm bells are louder: eight goals conceded without reply in their last two outings and a high line that keeps getting ripped apart.

Go Ahead Eagles arrive one place and two points better off in ninth, unbeaten in their last two but frustrated by back-to-back draws. They are not short of ideas. Just control.

NEC searching for balance

NEC walk into this fixture off a bruising week. First came a 3-0 defeat at Cambuur, where Ilyes Hamache scored either side of half time before Iwan Henstra twisted the knife in stoppage time. NEC’s back line never looked comfortable with space behind them, and Cambuur did not need a second invitation.

Then came Turin.

A 5-0 Europa League loss at Juventus laid bare the same flaws. Schreuder’s side saw plenty of the ball – 497 completed passes at 91% accuracy – yet produced only two shots on target from 11 attempts. They kept it nicely, moved it neatly, and were then cut open when it mattered.

The pattern is stark: a high defensive line repeatedly exposed, and a forward unit that cannot turn possession into goals. NEC have not scored in their last two matches, a drought that has coincided with fitness doubts over winger Clement Bischoff, previously one of their more inventive outlets.

Responsibility has fallen back onto captain Tjaronn Chery. He remains NEC’s top scorer in the league with three goals and carries much of their attacking threat, especially from the edge of the area and on set pieces. NEC have also been awarded two penalties this season, more than any other team in the division, a reminder that they can still force mistakes in the box even when open play stutters.

The bigger question is whether this squad can cope with the schedule. Schreuder guided NEC into the Champions League qualifying rounds over the summer, a landmark achievement, but the packed calendar has stretched a group already short on depth. As September grinds on, the legs are tiring and the gaps are widening.

Go Ahead Eagles flying forward, leaking at the back

Go Ahead Eagles, under Joseph Oosting, bring a very different kind of chaos.

They were held 1-1 by Groningen in Deventer last time out, a match they largely dominated. Oosting’s side slung in 35 crosses, camped in the final third and finally found their reward in the 82nd minute when Soren Tengstedt struck the equaliser.

The comeback should have turned into a win. Stefan Sigurdarson squandered a clear late chance, a miss that captured a wider theme: Go Ahead Eagles create plenty, but do not always finish teams off.

The goals keep flowing in both directions. Before the Groningen draw, they were involved in a wild 3-3 at FC Utrecht and had already been beaten 5-2 at AZ Alkmaar, either side of a more controlled 3-1 home victory over ADO Den Haag. Entertainment is guaranteed; defensive assurance is not.

Tengstedt has been the standout. The forward is the Eredivisie’s outright leading scorer with five goals and two assists, his drifting runs from the right into central pockets repeatedly unpicking back fours. Give him half a yard and he punishes you.

Behind him, Victor Edvardsen has become the creative hinge. He fashioned seven chances on his own in the draw with Groningen, linking midfield to attack and dragging defenders into uncomfortable positions.

The problem lies further back. Go Ahead Eagles have conceded 13 goals in six league games. Oosting’s answer has not been to shut up shop but to double down on their attacking instincts and try to outscore opponents.

Captain Joris Kramer anchors the back four in front of goalkeeper Kjetil Haug, and his passing from deep has grown into a key part of their build-up. Go Ahead look to play through pressure, not bypass it, which can be thrilling when it works and punishing when it doesn’t.

Team news

NEC’s squad issues have not eased.

Emre Mor remains out with a groin injury and is not expected back until mid-October. Deveron Fonville is also sidelined with an ankle problem and is likely to return in early October.

There is concern over defender Ahmetcan Kaplan, rated day-to-day with a knee issue, while pre-match reports list Clement Bischoff as a fitness doubt following the trip to Turin. NEC have yet to confirm his status officially.

A possible NEC XI:

• Polster;
• Kabar, Storm, Sandler;
• Tahaui, Geiger, Nejasmic, Thomas;
• Chery, Tadic; Sierhuis.

For Go Ahead Eagles, Oosting will again be without Gerrit Nauber, who continues to manage a leg injury on a day-to-day basis. Pim Saathof is still out with a knee problem, but beyond that, the visitors have a settled core.

A possible Go Ahead Eagles XI:

• Haug;
• Sampsted, Dirksen, Kramer, James;
• Meulensteen, Linthorst;
• Tengstedt, Edvardsen, Suray;
• Sigurdarson.

Prediction: NEC’s nerves vs Eagles’ edge

NEC have enough quality in the final third to hurt anyone in this league. Chery’s eye for goal, coupled with the guile of Dusan Tadic, should give them chances against a defence that has yet to keep a clean sheet in six league matches.

But the numbers are unforgiving. Eight conceded without reply in two games, a high line that keeps being targeted, and a squad running close to empty after European exertions.

Go Ahead Eagles are hardly watertight, yet Tengstedt’s form – five goals and two assists already – offers a sharper cutting edge than anything NEC have shown in the last fortnight. In an open, stretched contest, that often decides it.

NEC can score here, and likely will. The feeling, though, is that Go Ahead Eagles will score one more.

Prediction: NEC 1-2 Go Ahead Eagles.