Heracles Almelo
- Heracles sit at the bottom of the Eredivisie table and have lost five straight games in the competition, although they are due an improvement in form soon if Ernest Faber’s methods can produce a quick fix.
- Heracles’ home record makes for tough reading - they have lost their last two home games and have not scored in their previous two.
- Their two most recent results have seen them lose 0-2 to FC Volendam and 1-0 to PEC Zwolle away, while they were also beaten 3-0 by Telstar on the road.
- Heracles Almelo has won only four of their 16 Eredivisie home matches in 2025-2026 and has lost nine of them.
- The Almelo side play in compact 4-2-3-1 or 4-3-3 shapes where they are well-organised, low to medium tempo in terms of rhythm, but can hurt opponents with pace and power on the break.
- Heracles’ best bet in this matchup is to let Groningen come to them and catch them on the counter-attack.
FC Groningen
- Groningen are a high-energy, high-tempo possession side who press relentlessly to try and force opponents into mistakes.
- They then aim to play their off-the-ball football in numbers and move forward to create their own chances, although Dick Lukkien’s team don’t always execute the plan to perfection.
- They have two wins, one draw and two losses in their last five league games, defeating NEC Nijmegen 2-1 at home recently, but falling to a 3-1 defeat at Feyenoord and a 3-2 home loss to Excelsior in the previous two.
- Groningen has won one and lost one of their last two away Eredivisie matches.
- Groningen averages 1.25 goals per game away from home in the Eredivisie, scoring 20 times in 16 away trips.
Head-to-Head
FC Groningen has won two and tied one of the last three Eredivisie head-to-head meetings with Heracles Almelo, including a 4-0 victory eight months ago .
Key Players
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Players to watch:
- Luka Kulenovic is the club’s top scorer in Eredivisie 2025-2026 with five goals in 29 appearances and will be the target man for any successful counter-attacking play.
- Thom van Bergen, who has nine in 33 Eredivisie matches, is FC Groningen’s prolific goal scorer.
Betting Insights
- The match result odds for an away win is 1.6, which seems fair to us given the quality and depth of both teams.
- Over 2.5 goals is 1.3 and both teams to score is 1.39, but we’re taking the win-draw-win odds here because we believe Groningen can win this game.
Prediction
- The two sides sit ninth and 18th in the table after 33 games with 45 and 19 points respectively, leaving Groningen in a mid-table rut while Heracles are struggling to avoid the drop.
- FC Groningen are expected to take all three points when they visit Heracles Almelo, although the home side is still in with a shout if they can get it right.
