Preview: Willem II - Fortuna Sittard
Fortuna Sittard will travel to North Brabant next weekend. There, head coach Danny Buijs' team will meet PhD student Willem II. We look ahead to this match.
The basics
Willem II - Fortuna Sittard will be played on Sunday, October 20, at 12:15 PM, in the King Willem II Stadium. The match is led by Rob Dieperink, Richard Martens takes place behind the VAR. The match can be seen on ESPN2. Not in the stadium? Once again you can visit the live blog to stay informed of the latest developments, or tune in to the radio report from media partner L1.
Willem II this season
After two seasons of absence, Willem II returned to the Eredivisie this summer. The Brabanders were crowned champions in the Kitchen Champion Division on the last match day, making promotion a certainty. The return was graced with a creditable draw against Feyenoord in De Kuip: 1-1. The season opener continued well with a victory over Go Ahead Eagles and a draw against Heracles Almelo.
The first defeat followed against Sparta Rotterdam, which triumphed 1-2 in Tilburg. FC Utrecht and PSV were also too strong, but they again took full advantage against RKC Waalwijk and Almere City. Thus, Willem II finds itself in eighth position in the Eredivisie after eight games.
Willem II expanded the Belgian enclave considerably prior to the new season. Tom Caluwé, the technical man, picked up no fewer than six of the eight reinforcements in his home country. One of them is an old acquaintance; Mickaël Tirpan returned to the Dutch fields in Tilburg.
Eye-catcher
A lot has been said and written in recent weeks about Amar Fatah, the attacker who attended a training camp with Manchester City last summer. However, we note Ringo Meerveld as the eye-catcher on the Tilburg side. The 21-year-old midfielder started all competition matches and is an important link in head coach Peter Maes' team. He has repaid that trust with two goals so far. In total, the native of Den Bosch has made 83 appearances for Willem II, scoring eleven goals and twelve assists.
The last time
For the last meeting we have to go back to the 2021/2022 season, the football year in which Willem II was relegated from the Eredivisie. The mutual match then ended in a 1-1 draw. Despite the loss of points, it was a special evening for Tijjani Noslin. The attacker - now playing for Lazio - scored his first goal in professional football. After 54 minutes Noslin opened the scoring. Fortuna could not enjoy it for long, because Mats Köhlert equalized five minutes later. There was no more scoring in the last half hour.
Previous encounters
In total, both teams met each other 32 times in Tilburg. The last time the match ended in a draw. That was the thirteenth time that the points were shared by Willem II and Fortuna. On the other hand, the home team won fourteen games, five times the points went back to Sittard. The last time the points were included dates back to the 1996/1997 season. Ronald Hamming then scored the only goal in the King Willem II Stadium.
Fortune update
Fortuna is supported by 545 away fans in Tilburg. They may be witnesses to the return of Alessio da Cruz and Umaro Embalo. The duo trained with the group again this week, just like Kristoffer Peterson. Whether the trio is fit enough for a place in the match selection remains to be seen tomorrow. This does not apply to Kaj Sierhuis, the attacker is still sidelined for the time being.
Details
Ivo Pinto is well on his way to a hundred matches in Sittard's yellow-green. The captain can play his 99th in the Fortuna shirt against Willem II.