Maastricht – Cambuur

Netherlands – Eerste divisie, day 11. 

Friday 20/10/23, h20:00 

Maastricht have just experienced a last-minute defeat at Telstar's (2-1), their 6th in the last 7 games. They had clearly overperformed at the beginning of the season (7 points in the first 3 matches), but this negative streak is also enhanced by a key psychological factor: 5 of these losses have matured in the second half, even when Maastricht were the first to score. The seasonal goal, at most, is to achieve a decent positioning in the mid of the tally. Today, however, it does not seem very likely: most of Maastricht's hopes relies on Koen Koston's skills (5 goals and 4 assists already). 

New coach, old story for Cambuur that badly lost even their last home game against Breda (2-3). The Frisians keep holding their not-so-useful record of best attack and worse defense of Eerste divisie (23 goals scored, 24 conceded). But altogether, facts say that one of the most awaited lineups of the league is struggling at the 13th place - with 4 defeats in a row. Any reaction, at least emotional if not technical, is much needed: Cambuur have surely the players for that (Smit and Breij form an impressive goal couple: 13 so far), but without a significant upgrade in defense it will be hard to climb up the table. 

Maastricht have won only one out of the 8 most recent matches against Cambuur (back to 2018), among which an embarrassing 1-7 defeat is still widely remembered. Both teams today are suffering a deep identity crisis; if anything, Cambuur can count on a clear technical superiority on paper: a highly unstable match, with attacks over defenses, is likely to occur this Friday.