SC Cambuur host NEC Nijmegen at the Cambuurstadion on 12 September 2026 in an Eredivisie fixture that lays bare how uneven this start to the season has been: a newly promoted side with one point from five games against a mid-table outfit still carrying European fatigue. Cambuur sit 18th with a goal difference of minus 12, NEC are ninth on seven points.
For Cambuur, a fifth defeat would push them further from the pack at a point when they already look stranded. Four heavy defeats have defined their early season and conceding 3.6 goals per league game points to structural problems, not bad luck. NEC arrive with complications of their own, primarily a Champions League qualifying run that has left them six players short but the numbers between these two sides make the task look manageable.
Johan Plat and Dick Schreuder are former colleagues who have crossed paths in Dutch coaching circles, though direct head to head data between them as managers is limited. Plat took charge of Cambuur in summer 2026 following Henk de Jong's departure, while Schreuder has been in the NEC dugout since 1 July 2025 when he replaced Rogier Meijer. Plat is trying to shore up a defence that keeps getting ripped apart, whereas Schreuder wants to impose an attacking structure on his opponents.
Cambuur's results make grim reading: a 0-4 loss to Excelsior on 7 August, defeats to Fortuna Sittard (1-3), Feyenoord (2-5) and Twente (1-4), before a 2-2 draw with Telstar on 6 September spared them a fifth consecutive loss. They have conceded multiple goals in every match with no sign of it stopping.
NEC drew 2-2 with Excelsior on 8 September, lost 1-3 to Feyenoord on 5 September and beat PEC Zwolle 3-1 on 29 August, with a 0-3 Champions League qualifier defeat to Bodø/Glimt on 25 August dropped in between. In four domestic league matches NEC have scored 11 goals and conceded five, Cambuur have scored four and let in 18.
Cambuur are without Daan Visser, still recovering from cruciate ligament surgery. Visser was the one player offering genuine pace in behind and without him Cambuur have no one capable of running at NEC's back line. NEC have a longer absentee list: Sami Ouaissa (hamstring), Ahmetcan Kaplan (knee), Philippe Sandler, Thomas Ouwejan, Yassin Moslih and Deveron Fonville (ankle). Six players out strips their options at centre back and on the right flank, meaning those who have already logged heavy European minutes will be asked to go again.
Cambuur will likely line up in a compact 4-3-3, sitting in a mid block and trying to make NEC play around rather than through them. The problem is that when opponents shift the ball quickly across the back line and drag Cambuur's full backs out of position, the central channels open up and four successive heavy defeats have demonstrated this consistently. Without Visser, Rafik El Arguioui is the lone outlet for any kind of direct play, he needs the ball quickly and in space and if Cambuur's midfield cannot hold possession against NEC's press, he barely touches it.
Schreuder's side prefer a possession based structure that shifts into a 3-4-2-1, with Dusan Tadic moving from the left half space to pull opposing midfielders out of shape and thread passes between defensive lines. Tadic's ability to slide the ball through Cambuur's defensive block is hard to see a side averaging 3.6 conceded per game containing for ninety minutes. Bryan Linssen and Kaj Sierhuis make runs into the channels in behind a high line and the absence of several NEC defenders may push Schreuder toward a more aggressive structure, betting that his remaining centre backs can handle a Cambuur attack already without Visser and let down by a midfield that cannot hold the ball.
NEC have already produced 11 goals in five league games doing exactly that and if they establish early control the same pattern is likely. Cambuur's best hope is forcing NEC into low percentage crosses or making something from set pieces but their recent results suggest they cannot sustain defensive intensity for ninety minutes. The battle between Tadic and Cambuur's central midfield trio will prove decisive: if Tadic finds space in the first twenty minutes, a side that has already conceded 18 in four games is not equipped to reorganise under that kind of pressure.
NEC have won four of the last five meetings between these clubs, with one draw and Cambuur have conceded from corners and free kicks throughout this opening stretch of the season, making Tadic's delivery quality an additional threat at dead ball situations. Tadic, Linssen and Sierhuis remain available even with six players out and Cambuur, sitting bottom without a win, may sit so deep early on that they effectively hand NEC the ball in dangerous areas from the first whistle.
Four heavy defeats in five games have exposed Cambuur as a side that struggles with both wide overloads and central combinations and without Visser they have no one capable of running in behind NEC's defence. That leaves them reliant on set pieces or individual moments, neither of which has delivered so far this season. NEC retain Tadic, Linssen and Sierhuis and as Cambuur's shape begins to collapse in the second half, those three will find space in behind the home back line when Cambuur's wide midfielders push on chasing an equaliser. Schreuder's side have already scored three or more in domestic matches and the loss of several defenders may push them toward a more aggressive approach that overwhelms the home back line in the closing stages. At 3.6 conceded per game against a NEC side that has scored 11 in four domestic outings, a heavy home defeat looks the most likely outcome. NEC 0-4.
Ryan Baldi
Football Writer
Ryan Baldi is a professional football writer with years of experience and has been featured by respected outlets such as the BBC, The Guardian, Sky Sports, DAZN, FourFourTwo, ESPN, Yahoo Sport and Football365. He has also written several books including Arsène Who?.
