Cambuur come into this one off the back of a mixed pre-season. They lost 1-2 to Volos in a friendly at the end of July, then got turned over 3-1 by Bologna a few days later. That's two defeats on the spin, and while friendlies are about fitness not results, you don't want to be shipping goals this easily before the real stuff starts. The Kooi Stadion will be buzzing for the season opener, but there's a fragility about this Cambuur side right now — they look a team still finding their rhythm.

Excelsior Rotterdam, though, are a complete unknown here. The research brief comes up empty for them — no recent results, no squad news, no tactical shape. That's frustrating, but it also tells us something: they're a side in transition, likely rebuilding after a summer of change. We know they're a yo-yo club, used to bouncing between the Eredivisie and the second tier, and they always bring a streetwise, physical edge. But without data, we're guessing at their sharpness. That uncertainty cuts both ways, and it's exactly why this game smells like a draw.