Match Report
Before the match
eight goals for and seven against accompanied Heerenveen's one win, two draws and two defeats across five outings. A 2-0 defeat away to PSV (9 October) was their most recent result; their biggest win in that spell was 4-0 away to Sparta on 19 September.
PSV hosted Heerenveen (Eredivisie) on 9 October. For Heerenveen, the score was 0-2: zero goals scored, two allowed. 4-0 was Heerenveen's result against Sparta on 19 September (Eredivisie), playing away from home; Heerenveen won, with four scored to zero conceded. The 13 September fixture (Eredivisie) paired Heerenveen with Telstar. Heerenveen drew 0-0 at home, netting zero goals while conceding zero. Playing at home against AZ (Eredivisie), Heerenveen finished 2-3 on 6 September. Their score comprised two goals, against three from the opposition. 30 August: Heerenveen drew 2-2 against Willem II away from home in Eredivisie, scoring two goals and allowing two.
Heerenveen stood 10th in the results-based Eredivisie table before kickoff, with nine points from eight matches.
Excelsior's previous five results comprised one win, two draws and two defeats. Their goal totals were 9 scored and 11 conceded. Groningen were their latest opponents, at home on 11 October: a 5-1 defeat; their biggest win in that spell was 3-0 away to Willem II on 5 September.
1-5 was Excelsior's result against Groningen on 11 October (Eredivisie), playing at home; Excelsior lost, with one scored to five conceded. The 19 September fixture (Eredivisie) paired Excelsior with Ajax. Excelsior drew 2-2 away from home, netting two goals while conceding two. Playing at home against Utrecht (Eredivisie), Excelsior finished 1-2 on 13 September. Their score comprised one goal, against two from the opposition. 8 September: Excelsior drew 2-2 against NEC away from home in Eredivisie, scoring two goals and allowing two. Against Willem II in Eredivisie, Excelsior scored three and conceded zero on 5 September; the away from home result was 3-0.
11 points in eight matches put Excelsior 9th in the pre-match results-based Eredivisie standings.
The teams' recorded encounters ended in a 2-1 away win for Heerenveen on 7 March and a 2-1 home win for Heerenveen on 4 October 2025.
After the match
Heerenveen overwhelmed Excelsior 4-0 on 16 October 2026. Dylan Vente opened the scoring from the penalty spot inside the first 11 minutes for Heerenveen to make it 1-0. Oliver Braude added to the tally 54 minutes into the game for Heerenveen, set up by Jacob Trenskow, to make it 2-0. With the 3rd goal, Heerenveen extended the lead through Luca Oyen late on, in the 84th minute, set up by Ringo Meerveld, to make it 3-0. Jacob Trenskow scored the 4th goal for Heerenveen late on, in the 88th minute as they extended the lead to make it 4-0. Ágúst Þorsteinsson (43') was booked. On our current Elo ratings the gap is a modest one: Heerenveen are 78 points stronger than Excelsior. 2 gols came after the 80th minute. Heerenveen won; current ratings also favour them in this pairing, with a model probability of 58%. five changes were recorded for Heerenveen. Luca Oyen scored in minute 84 following entry for Heerenveen in the 82nd minute. Ringo Meerveld, on in the 82nd minute, provided an assist. one yellow card went to Excelsior. The substitution total for Excelsior was five. Heerenveen finished with a clean sheet.