Preview: Feyenoord - Fortuna Sittard

The basics
Feyenoord - Fortuna Sittard will be played on Saturday 30 November, at 20:00, in Stadion Feyenoord, popularly known as De Kuip in Rotterdam. The match will be led by Jannick van der Laan, Allard Lindhout will take his place behind the VAR. The match can be seen on ESPN1. Fortuna will be supported by 650 away fans in Zwolle. Not in the stadium? Then you can once again visit the live blog to stay informed of the latest developments, or tune in to the radio report from media partner L1.

Feyenoord this season
After a bumpy start, Feyenoord seems to have found the desired form. The change of trainer took a few weeks, which resulted in the necessary points being lost in the opening phase of the new Eredivisie season. The team did not lose, but did drop points against, among others, promoted Willem II and FC Groningen. The first defeat finally came on October 30, against arch-rival Ajax it was 0-2. Partly due to the weak start, the Rotterdammers already have eleven loss points in thirteen matches and find themselves in fourth place.

Due to the second place in the 2023/2024 season, the team from Rotterdam will also compete in the Champions League this year. In the European competition, it is a matter of trial and error. Feyenoord won twice in the billion-dollar ball, against Girona and Benfica. On the other hand, there are two defeats; against Bayer Leverkusen and RB Leipzig. Last Tuesday, there was a fine draw against Manchester City (3-3). With seventy minutes on the clock, the team of head coach Brian Priske was still 3-0 behind.

The squad
The most prominent transfer was probably that of head coach Arne Slot. After three successful years at Feyenoord, the coach left Rotterdam for a new adventure at Liverpool, the current leader of England. Priske was plucked from Slavia Prague to fill the void left by Slot. The Dane managed to surprise in the Czech Republic by becoming champions for the first time in nine years with the club from the capital, and even won the double the following year.

Feyenoord was also active on the transfer market. However, most of the signings are hardly found in the starting line-up at Feyenoord. One of the players who does play minutes, mainly as a substitute, is Anis Hadj Moussa. The Algerian played minutes on loan at Vitesse last season, after which the Rotterdammers decided to take over the attackers from Patro Eisden. In addition, we regularly see Jordan Lotomba (OGC Nice) and In-beom Hwang (Red Star) on the match sheet.

On the outgoing side, Feyenoord made two big hits: Mats Wieffer left for Brighton for over thirty million, Lutsharel Geertruida made the transfer to RB Leipzig for twenty million. In addition, a lot of selection was made and Ondrej Lingr, Ramon Hendriks, Lennard Hartjes, Thijs Janssen and Alireza Jahanbakhsh also left. And then the Rotterdam club rented out a dozen players, including Ezequiel Bullaude to Fortuna.

Eye-catcher
Igor Paixão is swinging in Rotterdam this year. The Brazilian played his hundredth match in red and white against sc Heerenveen last weekend. Paixão celebrated that milestone with a goal and an assist. With that, he increased his total in the current season. The winger played in nineteen matches. In those, he was involved in thirteen goals. He was the finisher three times, and the provider no less than ten times. His good form was rewarded with a new contract earlier this week. Paixão is now contracted to De Kuip until mid-2029.

Eye-catcher
Igor Paixão is swinging in Rotterdam this year. The Brazilian played his hundredth match in red and white against sc Heerenveen last weekend. Paixão celebrated that milestone with a goal and an assist. With that, he increased his total in the current season. The winger played in nineteen matches. In those, he was involved in thirteen goals. He was the finisher three times, and the provider no less than ten times. His good form was rewarded with a new contract earlier this week. Paixão is now fixed at De Kuip until mid-2029.

The last match
Feyenoord will undoubtedly be wary of complacency. In the last two encounters, Fortuna took a point from Rotterdam. Last season, no goals were scored in De Kuip. An early red card for Bart Nieuwkoop took the sting out of Rotterdam's game. Iñigo Córdoba eventually had the 0-1 on his boot, but had to watch as his effort from a distance was turned onto the line.

Previous matches
Feyenoord away is perhaps the favourite away match against a club from the traditional top 3. Since returning to the Eredivisie, the team has lost three times, drawn twice and won once in the competition. However, the balance is largely in favour of the home team. In 28 matches, Feyenoord kept the points at home nineteen times. The points were shared five times, and Fortuna won four times.