ADO Den Haag vs Cambuur - prediction, team news, lineups

ADO Den Haag welcome Cambuur to the Werktalent Stadion in The Hague on Saturday, with both promoted sides meeting in an Eredivisie fixture that carries early relegation weight.

Robin Peter's hosts sit bottom of the Eredivisie table after six matchdays, still searching for a first league win since returning to the top flight after five years away, while Johan Plat's Cambuur arrive in considerably better spirits, having ended their own winless run with a 3-0 demolition of NEC Nijmegen last time out.

ADO Den Haag returned to the Eredivisie as Eerste Divisie champions but have made the worst possible start to life back among the elite.

Peter's side have collected a single point from their opening six fixtures, a tally built entirely from a 2-2 draw away at Feyenoord.

Everywhere else the results have gone against them, including defeats to AZ, FC Groningen, Go Ahead Eagles and Fortuna Sittard before a 2-0 loss at FC Twente last weekend extended the run to six games without a win.

That defeat in Enschede came in Twente's landmark 2,000th Eredivisie fixture, with Wout Weghorst converting a 60th-minute penalty before captain Robin Propper headed in a second from a corner.

Goalkeeper Kilian Nikiema was one of the few positives on the day, saving efforts from Weghorst himself before the break and finishing the match with double figures for saves.

Sixteen goals conceded in six matches is the most alarming number for Peter, whose side have also managed only six goals of their own at the other end.

Cambuur, promoted after finishing second in the Eerste Divisie, spent the first month of the season looking every bit as short of confidence as their opponents this weekend.

Plat's side opened with a 0-4 home defeat to Excelsior and had taken only one point from their first five matches before hosting NEC Nijmegen.

That solitary point arrived in bruising fashion away at Telstar, where Cambuur led 2-0 deep into stoppage time only to be pegged back to a 2-2 draw.

The visit of NEC brought a complete reversal of fortune, with Cambuur brushing aside a Dick Schreuder side bound for Europa League action against Juventus by winning 3-0.

Ilyes Hamache scored twice in that game, either side of half-time, before substitute Iwan Henstra added gloss with a stoppage-time third.

Just as significant was Cambuur's first clean sheet of the campaign, a marked improvement for a defence that had shipped 18 goals in its previous five matches.

Rafik El Arguioui remains the team's leading scorer with four goals and continues to operate as the creative fulcrum between Cambuur's midfield and attack.

De Ooievaars is without Mylian Jimenez and Cameron Peupion, leaving the hosts short of options in both midfield and attack.

Nikiema should retain his place in goal after his display at Twente, with Jonas Jensen-Abbew, Matteo Waem, Pascal Mulder and Milan Hokke expected to form the back four in front of him.

Peter also has a fresh option to consider after ADO Den Haag confirmed the free-transfer signing of winger Alex Pozo this week, with the 27-year-old former Almeria player capable of covering the right flank once he is settled into the squad.

Plat is missing Wout Asselman and Daan Visser, but otherwise has the continuity to retain much of the side that dismantled NEC.

Thijs Jansen is expected to continue in goal behind a back four of Morgan Costarelli, Billy van Duijl, Ismael Baouf and Devid Eugene Bouah.

Mathieu Maertens and Nicky Souren should form the double pivot in midfield, freeing El Arguioui to operate as the link between the lines.

Fabian Kvam and Hamache are set to support lone striker Nicolas Binder from wide areas, with Binder himself contributing two assists so far this season.

Hamache arrives full of confidence after his brace against NEC took his tally to three goals for the campaign.

Nikiema; Jensen-Abbew, Mulder, Waem, Hokke; Kilo, de Bruin; Raterink, Rottier, Hawkins; Eduardo

Jansen; Costarelli, van Duijl, Baouf, Bouah; Souren, Maertens; Kvam, El Arguioui, Hamache; Binder

Cambuur go into this one with the psychological upper hand, unbeaten in the last five meetings between these two clubs, the most recent a 1-2 win in this very stadium in January.

A defence that finally found a clean sheet against NEC gives Plat a platform to build on, and with El Arguioui and Hamache both scoring freely, the visitors look capable of exploiting a Den Haag back line that has conceded 16 times in six matches.

ADO Den Haag should have enough in Eduardo and home advantage to trouble Jansen's goal at least once, but a fourth game without a win looks the more likely outcome for Robin Peter's side.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.

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