2026/2027 season

Eredivisie

Team page
Eredivisie · Team page
FC Groningen
Head coach: Dick Lukkien · 4-2-3-1
Rank
6th
Pts
14
P
8
Form
🟡 Average

The essentials at a glance

The summary of this page: estimated level of play, form trend and qualitative verdict. For the details, head to the other tabs.

Editors' ratings
8/10
Attack
7/10
Defence
5/10
Form
4/10
Confidence / mood
Current risk:High

6th with 14 pts from 8 matches: 4 wins, 2 draws, 2 defeats.

20 goals scored, 14 conceded.

After a long period of time, the right back returned to FC Groningen, where he continued his youth education. In conversation with FootballPrimurmer Hateboer looks back on his return.

Voetbalprimeur · 18 Oct 2026 · machine-translated

FC Groningen and Ajax compete in the Eredivisie. In the SN TV guide you can see on which channel this game can be seen. [...] Read on... On which channel do you watch FC Groningen live? appeared first on Soccernews.nl .

Soccernews · 18 Oct 2026 · machine-translated

For coach Míchel Sánchez to visit FC Groningen on Sunday, this must be completely different. Indeed, the Amsterdammers lose points again in the Euroborg, the Spaniard may soon be finished. And that's why he's acting. Presumably Ajax against FC Groningen: Everything must be [...] Continue reading..

Soccernews · 18 Oct 2026 · machine-translated

In round 9 the game with FC Groningen waits in the Eredivisie (strap at 16.45 hours). In this VI Live you follow everything closely.

Voetbal International · 18 Oct 2026 · machine-translated

How the team has played recently

Match-by-match results, record and rhythm of the current season.

Latest matches
Wvs SBV Excelsior (A) · 5-1
Wvs PEC Zwolle (H) · 3-0
Dvs Go Ahead Eagles (A) · 1-1
Dvs FC Twente '65 (H) · 2-2
Lvs Fortuna Sittard (H) · 2-3
WWWWDDLL
20 scored / 14 conceded over 8 matches played
Rest: 7 days since the last match · 1 match played in the last 15 days
Home form
2W - 1D - 1L
Away form
2W - 1D - 1L
Statistics

Computed from this season's scores, every time the page is shown.

Goals scored per match
2.6
Goals conceded per match
1.4
At home
7 scored · 5 conceded in 3 matches
Away
6 scored · 2 conceded in 2 matches
Over 2.5 goals
4 of 5
Both teams score
4 of 5
Clean sheets
1 of 5
Failed to score
0 of 5
Cumulative points vs league average

Not enough matchdays recorded yet for this curve — history builds up with every standings refresh.

How FC Groningen play

System, playing identity, and what sets the team apart at both ends of the pitch.

Playing identity
Preferred system
4-2-3-1
Philosophy
Dick Lukkien has been in charge of FC Groningen since 1 July 2023 and his contract runs until 30 June 2028. He asks his team to combine patience and high tempo against low blocks, with precision in passing.
Attacking strengths
Nine goals in four matchdays. Thom van Bergen, whom Lukkien describes as a beast capable of playing in many positions, still needs to score more according to his head coach. Against Fortuna Sittard on 28 August, Groningen dominated the second half and created chance after chance without equalising.
Defensive solidity
Ten goals conceded in four matchdays, five of them at PSV on 23 August. Against Fortuna, the opponents' first goal came from a fast counter-attack finished off by Mohamed Ihattaren as early as the 12th minute.
Pressing
Transitions
The defence was caught out on the transition against Fortuna Sittard, with the Limburg side's opening goal coming from a quick counter-attack.
StrengthA start to the season launched by two wins, including a comfortable 4-1 success in The Hague against ADO on 16 August. The club kept hold of Thom van Bergen despite interest from AZ, and Etienne Vaessen extended his contract, ruling out a move to Utrecht.
WeaknessThree consecutive defeats and a squad considered thin: as early as 9 August, Etienne Vaessen was publicly calling for depth and experience. The loss of Malcolm Jeng, seriously injured as early as 13-14 August, has further reduced the defensive options.

The mood around the club, and who is missing

Internal climate, relationship with the supporters, and known absences before the next match.

Mood
Squad confidence
Middling: six points taken but a frustrating home defeat after a second half they dominated.
Coach / players / board relationship
Goalkeeper Etienne Vaessen publicly challenged his club on 09/08/2026 over the depth of the squad — “Van mij mag er nog wat bij in de breedte, misschien wat ervaring” — while confirming he was staying: “Ik heb mijn contract verlengd met de bedoeling om in elk geval dit seizoen te blijven” (VoetbalPrimeur).
Mood with the supporters
Unprecedented enthusiasm around the club: more than 6000 people on the waiting list for a season ticket and 13516 season tickets sold, with a Euroborg occupancy rate of 84 per cent last season and a target of 95 per cent. The oldest season-ticket holder is 96.
Pressure on the head coach
No public questioning: Dick Lukkien has been in post since 1 July 2023 and is tied to the club until 30 June 2028.
Club objectives
Goalkeeper Etienne Vaessen said on 9 August that he hoped to repeat last season's performance, which ended in ninth place.
Recent internal tensions
No internal tension reported at this stage.
Absences
InjuredMalcolm Jeng — The defender is unavailable.
InjuredTyrique Mercera — The defender is among the injured in the squad.
InjuredYénio Holder — The midfielder is also absent from the available squad.

Before kick-off

What to know before the next match: statistical form, qualitative analysis, and a computed estimate of the 1/X/2 probabilities.

Next match

FC Groningen — Ajax

At homeSunday 18 October at 16:45Matchday 9
It's today. Kick-off time confirmed by the league. Paris time · football-data.org fixtures.
What the press says
  • Op welke zender kijk je FC Groningen – Ajax live?FC Groningen and Ajax compete in the Eredivisie. In the SN TV guide you can see on which channel this game can be seen. [...] Read on... On which channel do you watch FC Groningen live? appeared first on Soccernews.nl .Soccernews · 18 Oct 2026 · machine-translated
  • Vermoedelijke opstelling Ajax tegen FC Groningen: zware ingreep MíchelNo, it didn't look like Ajax against Hajduk Split ab-so-luut. For coach Míchel Sánchez to visit FC Groningen on Sunday, this must be completely different. Indeed, the Amsterdammers lose points again in the Euroborg, the Spaniard may soon be finished. And that's why he intervenes. Presumably Ajax against FC Groningen: Everything must be [...] Continue reading... The post Presumably Ajax against FC Groningen: major surgery Your emails.Soccernews · 18 Oct 2026 · machine-translated
Prediction
EstimateFC Groningen — Ajax
28 %
1 · FC Groningen
19 %
X · draw
53 %
2 · Ajax
In-house calculation, from this page's standings data alone: 8 matches played by FC Groningen, 8 matches by Ajax. Confidence: fair
The formula, in plain words — with this match's figures
  1. League average. 292 goals scored over 154 team-matches played (18 teams taken into account), i.e. μ = 1.90 goal scored per team per match. This is the reference point: everything that follows is expressed relative to it.
  2. Attacking and defensive strengths. Goals scored (or conceded) per match, divided by μ. 1.00 = exactly average; in defence, above 1.00 means “concedes more than average”.
    TeamGoalsRawKept
    FC Groningen — attack20 in 8 matches1.321.18
    FC Groningen — defence14 in 8 matches0.920.96
    Ajax — attack22 in 8 matches1.451.26
    Ajax — defence10 in 8 matches0.660.81
    The “Kept” column is the result of shrinkage towards the mean: weight = P / (P + 6), i.e. 0.57 for FC Groningen and 0.57 for Ajax. The rest of the weight goes to the league average. This is what stops a lone 5-0 from producing an attack at 3.3 times the average — and hence a 95% probability.
  3. Home advantage (γ). Measured on the league itself: 1.89 goal scored on average by the host against 1.77 by the visitor, over the 46 fixtures present in each team's last 5 matches. Raw ratio 1.07; shrunk towards 1 (weight 0.42, on the log of the ratio) then capped at 1.25 → γ = 1.03. Shrinkage goes towards 1, i.e. no advantage at all: while the sample is small, the model does not assert a home advantage it cannot measure.
  4. Venue correction, specific to each team. Drawn from the home/away split: points per match at the venue concerned are compared to points per match over all fixtures, with stronger shrinkage (weight = P / (P + 8)) and a bound of ±12%.
    FC Groningen at home: 1.75 pts/match versus 1.75 overall over 4 matches → ×1.000
    Ajax away: 3.00 pts/match versus 1.88 overall over 3 matches → ×1.120
  5. Expected goals. One side's attack is set against the other's defence. γ applies to the host only: applying it the other way round too would count the home advantage twice.
    λFC Groningen = 1.90 × 1.18 × 0.81 × 1.03 × 1.000 = 1.85
    λAjax = 1.90 × 1.26 × 0.96 × 1.120 = 2.55
  6. Poisson grid. Probability of every exact score from 0-0 to 8-8, assuming the two goal totals are independent, then adding up the cells: home win 28.0%, draw 18.7%, away win 53.3% — displayed rounded to whole numbers so that they add up to exactly 100. Most likely exact score in the grid: 1-2 (only 7.4%, which says enough about how unpredictable an exact score is).
Limits of this model — they are not anecdotal.
  • It only knows goals and a venue. Neither absences, suspensions, line-ups, fatigue, stakes, weather nor club context enter the calculation — while the other tabs of this page show that they matter.
  • The assumption that the two goal totals are independent is false in reality: it slightly underestimates tight scores, hence the draw.
  • γ is measured over a rolling window (each team's last 5 matches), not over the whole season.
  • The shrinkage constants (6, 60, 8) and the bounds are choices, not measurements. They were tuned to be cautious early in the season; they were not calibrated on a results history, as none is available here.
  • No after-the-fact evaluation has been made: at this stage, nobody knows whether this model is better or worse calibrated than another.
What other sources say
No external source has been collected for this match. That is the normal state: readings are taken by hand, and an empty box is better than an unverified figure.
This block shows probability estimates, not predictions, and carries no advisory value. The in-house estimate is the result of a formula applied to a small sample; the figures from external sources are reproduced as they were collected, without their method having been verified.

The full squad

The professional squad by position, captain marked with an armband.

Goalkeepers
  • Etienne Vaessen
  • Lovro Stubljar
  • Rijk Janse
Defenders
  • Wouter Prins
  • Thijmen Blokzijl
  • Mark Csinger
  • Marco Rente
  • Nikolas Brandis
  • Elvis van der Laan
  • Malcolm Jeng
  • Tyrique Mercera
Midfielders
  • Travis Hernes
  • Tika de Jonge
  • Jorg Schreuders
  • Alvin Nordin
  • David van der Werff
  • Tygo Land
  • Pelle Clement
Forwards
  • Brynjolfur Andersen Willumsson
  • Jacob Ondrejka
  • Oskar Zawada
  • Nils Eggens
  • Thom van Bergen
  • Ryan Metu
This team's current captain could not be confirmed with certainty at the last check — no armband is shown above until the information is reliable.
Squad last verified on 1 Sep 2026 — source: official club website (fcgroningen.nl/selectie, 2026-2027 season), cross-checked with BeSoccer.

What has been said recently

Chronological feed of verified information about the club.

rss18 Oct 2026
Hateboer about returning to Groningen: 'Here the feeling has always been good'
Source: Voetbalprimeur
rss18 Oct 2026
Ajax warned about Groningen excel: Bull becomes sniper
Source: Voetbalprimeur
rss18 Oct 2026
Presumably Ajax against FC Groningen: Major procedure Míchel
Source: Soccernews
rss18 Oct 2026
VI Live: Ajax hopes to wash away European hangover in Euroborg against FC Groningen
Source: Voetbal International
rss17 Oct 2026
'Groningen puts less pressure, but uses weapons better'
Source: Voetbal International
rss17 Oct 2026
Valente sees similarities between Feyenoord and Groningen: "That's right."
Source: Voetbalprimeur
Transfers1 Sep 2026
The club signed Pelle Boevink from Greuther Fürth on deadline day.
Source: Voetbal International
Transfers1 Sep 2026
French forward Noam Emeran, with twenty-two appearances and a goal, has had his contract terminated.
Source: NOS
Result28 Aug 2026
FC Groningen lost 2-3 at the Euroborg to Fortuna Sittard in front of more than twenty-two thousand spectators, despite a goal from David van der Werff and a Justin Hubner own goal in the 85th minute.
Source: FC Groningen
Club28 Aug 2026
FC Groningen lost 2-3 at home to Fortuna Sittard, with Mohamed Ihattaren opening the scoring and David van der Werff briefly equalising for the Groningen side.
Source: NOS
Club27 Aug 2026
Goalkeeper Etienne Vaessen was approached by Feyenoord and spoke publicly about that interest, before staying in Groningen.
Source: FC Update
News last verified on 18 Oct 2026. Sources: sports press (L'Équipe, Le Parisien, Foot Mercato, regional press…) and official club websites — see the link on each item.
Editorial content (playing style, mood, absences, external prediction sources) last verified on 3 Sep 2026. The standings/form data above are refreshed automatically — as is the 1/X/2 estimate, recomputed on every view.