Feyenoord is preparing for a midweek round of matches in the Eredivisie. The team of coach Arne Slot will travel to North Holland on Thursday, where the away match against FC Volendam awaits (starting at 6:45 PM).
The danger of relegation is great at De Dijk, given the current last place in the Eredivisie and a seven-point deficit to sixteenth place, which can offer escape through play-offs. But the battle is of course not over yet with seven rounds to go and in that light the point that was won in extremis last weekend at Almere City (1-1) can still be of great value.
‘In the situation Volendam is in, every point counts. Also for the confidence in the team,” said Arne Slot, who also mentioned the home game from earlier this season during his preview. Feyenoord only managed to secure victory in injury time. ‘That match showed that we cannot afford to be less sharp against any opponent.’
At home against Volendam, a series started for Feyenoord that is still going four months later. The team is now undefeated for thirteen matches in a row in the Eredivisie, partly thanks to last Sunday’s 4-2 win over FC Utrecht. “One of our better games this season,” said Slot. ‘Not only because of the comeback after being 0-2 down, but certainly also because of how we played football throughout the match.’
However, the victory was overshadowed by the injury that Quilindschy Hartman sustained. Later in the day it became clear that the left wing defender faces a months-long recovery, which means he will miss at least the rest of this season and the European Championship. ‘First of all, a huge tragedy for himself. Naturally, we will support him as a club wherever possible in the near future.’
In addition to Hartman, Feyenoord is missing six players on Thursday: Justin Bijlow, Gernot Trauner, Antoni Milambo, Gjivai Zechiёl, Alireza Jahanbakhsh and Luka Ivanusec, who was missing against FC Utrecht on Sunday, are not there. Partly for this reason, Givairo Read and Jaden Slory have joined the competition selection.
FC Volendam – Feyenoord starts on Thursday at 6:45 PM and can be seen live on ESPN 2.
