Sparta Rotterdam will get their Eredivisie campaign underway when they welcome Heracles to Sparta Stadion on Sunday.
The hosts are competing in the top flight for a sixth consecutive campaign, while the visitors are featuring in the Eredivisie for the second straight season.
Match preview
Last season, Sparta Rotterdam collected 49 points from 34 matches to finish in eighth place and secure a spot in the playoffs for Europa Conference League qualification.
Unfortunately for Jeroen Rijsdijk's side, their bid to secure European qualification was ended by a 3-1 defeat in the playoff semi-finals against Utrecht.
Sparta are now looking ahead to the 2024-25 season, and they will be targeting another strong campaign after finishing in the top half in three of the last four seasons.
They will certainly carry momentum into the new campaign after recording seven wins and one draw in pre-season, including a narrow 2-1 win over NAC Breda in their most recent friendly.
Sparta will hope that their pre-season results and performances can inspire them to claim their first competitive home win over Heracles since recording a 3-1 victory in March 2017.
After winning promotion in 2022-23, Heracles would have been satisfied with their efforts to secure safety last season.
Heracles collected 33 points from 34 matches to finish in 14th place and four points clear of the bottom three in the Eredivisie.
Erwin van de Looi's side will have to improve defensively if they are to avoid another relegation fight after conceding 74 goals in 34 matches - only FC Volendam conceded more goals in the Eredivisie last term.
Heracles have experienced an underwhelming run of results in their pre-season schedule, drawing against Almelose Selectie, Dender and Munster before losing to Excelsior and Groningen.
With Heracles keen to get off to a positive start, they may be able to take confidence from the fact that they have recorded a 2-1 victory in their most recent meeting with Sparta in April.
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Team News
The hosts are unsure about the availability of Joshua Kitolano, who is struggling with a groin injury ahead of the season opener.
Sparta have made a number of additions to their squad over the summer, recruiting Mike Kleijn, Teo Quintero, Boyd Reith, Julian Baas and Mohamed Nassoh.
Tobias Lauritsen will likely be given the responsibility of leading the line after scoring 12 goals in 31 league appearances last term.
As for the visitors, they are unable to call upon summer signing Jan Zamburek, who is currently nursing a knee injury.
Heracles will also have to assess the fitness of Justin Hoogma, Jizz Hornkamp, Stijn Bultman and Nikolai Laursen.
Juho Talvitie, who has joined on a season-long loan from Lommel, is expected to feature in the Heracles forward line, and he could be joined the front three by Bryan Limbombe and Mario Engels.
Sparta Rotterdam possible starting lineup:
Olij; Reith, Eerdhuijzen, Quintero, Van der Kust; Clement, Metinho, Verschueren; Oufkir, Nassoh, Lauritsen
Heracles possible starting lineup:
De Keijzer; Benita, Mirani, Mesik, Roosken; Van Kaam, De Keersmaecker, Zand; Talvitie, Limbombe, Engels.
We say: Sparta Rotterdam 1-1 Heracles
Sparta have failed to win their last four competitive home games against Heracles, but they have seen three of those matches finish all square, and we think that they could play out another draw in Sunday's league opener.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
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