On Friday night, Dutch Eredivisie side Willem II host Heracles at the King Willem II Stadium in a battle for three vital points. The hosts will kick off this weekend's league campaign with a relegation play-off, with 25 points after 31 games, while the visitors are in 12th place with 35 points.

Willem II is seven points from safety and with only three games left in the 2024-25 Eredivisie season, it is imperative that Willem II win this game to keep its hopes of avoiding the bottom three alive. Willem II was in poor form before this game, with the club choosing to part ways with Belgian head coach Peter Maes after a 1-0 loss to Fortuna Sittard a few weeks ago.

Christoph Aelbrecht will oversee the team in an interim capacity until the end of the season, and despite taking his first point in nine games against NEC last week, the team remains winless in 2025. The hosts managed to pick up a point in August but have now lost five straight home games, conceding two or more goals in each of those defeats.

Meanwhile, despite last week's heavy defeat to Feyenoord, Heracles has secured its top-flight status for the coming season as none of the bottom three teams had more than a point on Matchday 31. Against Southern Pride, Erwin van der Looy's side were three goals behind before half-time and although they pulled one back midway through the second half, hopes of a comeback were slim. Nonetheless, the 2024-25 season - a second consecutive season in the Eredivisie - is a progressive one for HAFC as they are already three points ahead of last season and still have a chance of finishing in the top half of the table. However, while the visitors are unbeaten in their last three games against this opponent, their recent away record is less than impressive, with no wins in their last six games (3 wins, 3 draws), and failing to score in half of those games.

Willem II will have to play without first-choice centre-back Rafael Behonek, who was sent off in the final minutes of last weekend's game against NEC and is therefore suspended for this match. The home team is expected to have at least three players missing due to injury, including Runar Thor Sigurgeirsson, Mickael Tirpan and long-term absentee Dani Mathieu.

Heracles will also be missing one player, Sem Scheppermann, who was shown a red card against Feyenoord last week and will likely be replaced in midfield by Juho Talvitie in this away game against Tilburg. The visitors have confirmed four players will miss this weekend's game, including Jordi Bruin, Sava-Aranjeur Sestić, Justin Hugma and Nicolae Laursen, while Giz Hornkamp is questionable.

William II predicted starting lineup:

Didylan Hoddle; Wieckhoff, St. Jago, Schouten, Nizet; Bosch, Lambert, Rahka; Mehrveld, Wiesen, Keller

Heracles predicted starting lineup:

De Keyser; Benita, Milani, Messik, Roots; De Koersmak, Talviti; Podgoreanu, Zambrak, Engels; Kurenovic