Go Ahead Eagles to be without key playmaker for Eredivisie opener against Fortuna Sittard | OneFootball

Go Ahead Eagles will be without Jakob Breum for the opening fixture of the new Eredivisie season. The Danish star sustained an ankle injury against PSV in the Johan Cruyff Shield.

Voetbal International’s Sander Janssen explains the midfield talent’s predicament, with unsight from the press conference with manager Melvin Boel.

Breum played against PSV, but it later turned out he was having ankle problems. “He took a hit from Ryan Flamingo at the end of the game, which is bothering him a bit more than he initially thought. It doesn’t look bad, but Friday is too soon. I’m hopeful he’ll be back next week,” said manager Boel on Thursday.

Victor Edvardsen is expected to move back to take Breum’s place with Milan Smit then starting as striker. “We have several options. Victor, of course, but also Søren Tengstedt and Mathis Suray.”

In other news, Gerrit Nauber has reportedly regained some confidence after scoring an unfortunate own goal against PSV on Sunday. This allowed the Eindhoven side to get back into the game before making it 2-1 with Sergino Dest to win late on. Boel spoke about the central defender.

“He was really upset, and that’s normal. He’s an experienced player and knows this can happen. We talked about it briefly. It’s okay to be upset, because you’d rather not score an own goal like that.”

Go Ahead will face a completely different opponent in Fortuna Sittard on Friday. “I expect us to have more possession than on Sunday. Then you have to be more patient and not just rush into the ball. This is a completely different match, and we’re eager to finally win again at the start of the season, because we haven’t managed that in a while.”

While Breum is missing, Melle Meulensteen is included in the matchday squad after completing his move from Sampdoria this week. “Melle is similar to Enric Llansana. He’s a link-up player between defence and midfield. Also, like Llansana, he can aggressively mark out under pressure. He’s capable of playing for half a game.”

GBeNeFN | Max Bradfield