Two newly promoted sides are set to come together on Friday when Groningen host NAC Breda at the Hitachi Capital Mobility Stadium on the opening matchday of the 2024-25 Eredivisie season.

The hosts earned automatic promotion from the Eerste Divisie with a second-place finish last year, while the visitors beat Excelsior in the playoff final to earn their return to the top flight.

Groningen suffered their first relegation in 23 years when they finished at the bottom of the Eredivisie in 2022-23, ending the season with just 18 points from 34 games in an extremely disappointing campaign after being widely tipped to finish in the middle of the pack.

Dick Lukkien took charge of the side heading into the Eerste Divisie season, but the new boss had to battle through an extremely tough opening 14 fixtures, losing six and winning just four, leaving his side in 14th place. However, Lukkien was able to turn around their poor form and oversaw a phenomenal run of just one loss in the remaining 24 games to lead the side to second place and automatic promotion.

A dramatic final day saw Groningen needing a win against Roda JC Kerkrade, who sat three points above them in second place, and Lukkien's men prevailed as they won 2-0, snatching second place due to a better goal difference. Groningen's fantastic form has continued throughout their pre-season preparations ahead of their return to the Eredivisie, winning six and drawing one of their seven friendly fixtures, leaving them unbeaten in their last 19 across all competitions.

They will face familiar opponents on Friday when they host NAC Breda, who also earned promotion from the Eerste Divisie last season thanks to an action-packed playoff run.

Since being relegated from the Eredivisie in 2018-19, NAC Breda have finished in the playoff places in all of the following five campaigns in the second tier, and they finally earned promotion last year. They managed to clinch a playoff place thanks to a better goal difference than MVV Maastricht and Jong AZ Alkmaar, with all three teams finishing on 56 points, and they went on to win 8-1 in the first round and 4-1 in the second to book a place in the final.

Jean-Paul van Gastel's team made the most of Excelsior receiving two red cards in the first leg as they ran out 6-2 winners in an extremely dominant performance, seeing them all but confirm their place in the top flight. However, a nervy second leg saw Excelsior claw back into the tie with three first-half goals and a fourth in the second half to level the score, but Casper Staring emerged as the savior by scoring to make it 4-1 on the day and 7-6 on aggregate, earning NAC Breda promotion in the most dramatic fashion.

Van Gastel departed at the end of the campaign after announcing his departure in March, and Carl Hoefkens took over, but the new boss has struggled in pre-season, securing only two wins and suffering five losses from eight matches. Hoefkens will be hoping his side can get off to a better start in his first competitive match in charge against a side that NAC Breda went undefeated against last year, drawing once and winning once.

Ragnar Oratmangoen is expected to be the only potential absentee for the hosts, as the midfielder is still in the recovery process from a hip injury and remains a doubt for selection. Elsewhere, Lukkien could name a similar side to the one that earned his team promotion with a 2-0 victory on the final day against Roda last year.

As for the visitors, they are likely to be without both Clint Leemans, who has not appeared since December due to a tendon injury, and Tom Boere, who is not expected to return from his injury issue until later this month. Dominik Janosek topped the scoring and assist charts for the side last season, scoring 11 and assisting 10 in the league, and the midfielder is expected to start here.

The hosts may have failed to beat the visitors in either of their matchups last year, but they have enjoyed a much better pre-season in preparation for the Eredivisie season, and I believe they will claim an opening day victory.

周五，两支新升班马将在格罗宁根主场迎战NAC Breda，这将是2024-25赛季荷甲联赛的揭幕战。

去年，主队以第二名的成绩自动晋级乙级联赛，而客队则在季后赛决赛中击败了Excelsior，重返顶级联赛。

格罗宁根在2022-23赛季以荷甲垫底的成绩结束了他们23年来的第一次降级，在被广泛预测将以中游结束的赛季中，他们在34场比赛中仅获得18分，这是一个非常令人失望的赛季。

迪克·吕金执掌球队进入了意甲联赛，但是这位新主帅不得不在极其艰难的14场比赛中战斗，6负4胜，使他的球队排在第14位。然而，卢金能够扭转他们糟糕的状态，并在剩下的24场比赛中只输了一场，带领球队获得第二名并自动晋级。

在最后一天的比赛中，格罗宁根需要战胜领先他们3分的罗达·JC·克克拉德(Roda JC Kerkrade)，但吕金的球队最终以2比0取胜，凭借净胜球优势夺得了第二名。格罗宁根在回归荷甲前的季前赛中一直保持着出色的状态，他们在7场友谊赛中取得6胜1平，使他们在过去的19场比赛中保持不败。

他们将在周五面对熟悉的对手，届时他们将主场迎战NAC Breda，后者上赛季也凭借精彩的季后赛从乙级联赛中晋级。

自2018-19赛季从荷甲降级以来，NAC布雷达在接下来的5个赛季中都进入了乙级联赛的季后赛，并在去年最终晋级。凭借比MVV马斯特里赫特和Jong AZ Alkmaar的净胜球优势，他们以56分的成绩锁定了季后赛席位，并在第一轮以8比1和第二轮以4比1获胜，进入了决赛。

让-保罗·范加斯特尔的球队在首回合比赛中得到了两张红牌，最终以6-2的比分取得了胜利，他们几乎确定了自己在顶级联赛的位置。然而，在第二回合的紧张局势中，Excelsior在上半场的3个进球和下半场的第4个进球将比分扳平，但卡斯珀·斯廷(Casper stirin)成为救世主，将当天的比分提高到4比1，总比分提高到7比6，以最戏剧性的方式帮助NAC Breda晋级。

范加斯尔在3月份宣布离开后，在赛季结束时离开了球队，卡尔·赫夫肯斯接任了球队，但新教练在季前赛中表现不佳，8场比赛只取得了2场胜利，5场失利。霍夫肯斯希望他的球队能在他执教的第一场正式比赛中有一个更好的开始，对阵的是NAC Breda去年不败的球队，一平一胜。

奥拉特曼戈恩预计将是唯一可能缺席东道主比赛的球员，因为这名中场球员的臀部伤势仍在恢复过程中，能否入选仍是个疑问。在其他地方，卢金可以说出一支类似的球队，去年在最后一天以2-0战胜罗达，为他的球队晋级。

至于客队，他们很可能失去克林特·莱曼斯，他自去年12月以来由于肌腱受伤而没有出现在比赛中，而汤姆·博埃尔预计要到本月晚些时候才能从伤病中恢复。多米尼克·雅诺塞克上赛季在进球和助攻榜上名列榜首，在联赛中打进11球，助攻10次，这名中场球员有望在这里首发。

主队虽然在去年的两场比赛中都没能击败客队，但他们在为新赛季的荷甲联赛做准备方面做得更好，我相信他们会在揭幕战中获胜。