Eredivisie

Featured: FC Volendam unbeaten at the start of the season for the first time in 30 years

21 August 2025

After an away match against sc Heerenveen and a home clash with AZ, few FC Volendam fans would have dared to dream of an unbeaten start to the season. Yet both encounters produced impressive draws for Rick Kruys’ team, already securing two valuable points in the battle against relegation. Will FC Volendam be able to extend their unbeaten run?

Unbeaten after 30 years

For the first time in three decades (1994/95), FC Volendam has remained unbeaten in the opening two rounds of the season. The last time they started a campaign with three consecutive matches without defeat was back in 1984/85, under the guidance of Leo Beenhakker. To repeat that feat, they will now need to overcome newly promoted SC Telstar. A direct rival in the relegation battle. Both clubs kick off on Saturday at 21:00 in the BUKO Stadion.

Statistics favor Volendam

Recent history gives Volendam plenty of confidence: FC Volendam is unbeaten in ten consecutive official matches against Telstar (six wins and four draws) and has scored in each of the last 24 encounters. In total, Volendam has found the net 53 times in those meetings. Strikers Henk Veerman and Robert Mühren will be eager to extend that streak, although both forwards have yet to score in the Eredivisie this season. In Heerenveen it was Ozan Kökcü who struck, while Aurelio Oehlers and Xavier Mbuyamba netted at home.

Mühren and Veerman can approach the clash with Telstar with confidence. The 36-year-old Robert Mühren has scored nine goals in nine appearances against Telstar in the Keuken Kampioen Divisie — only against Jong Ajax (10) has he scored more. Meanwhile, the 34-year-old Henk Veerman has netted five times against Telstar, with MVV being the only opponent he has scored more against (six).

Henk Veerman and Robert Mühren

Still, there’s work to be done for coach Rick Kruys. FC Volendam was extremely efficient in the opening weeks: from just 13 shots, they scored 3 goals - a shot conversion rate of 23.1%. Only Go Ahead Eagles did better in the first two rounds (26.7%). At first glance, that sounds promising, but since 2010/11 (the first season with available data) no club has ever maintained a shot conversion rate above 18% across an entire season. Inevitably, that efficiency will regress. In addition to having the fewest shots (13), Volendam also has the lowest Expected Goals so far (0.9).

Telstar, on the other hand, have been anything but clinical: with 29 shots and 2.1 Expected Goals, the Velsen side is still waiting for their first goal in the Eredivisie. Will that change this weekend? We’ll find out on Saturday at 21:00, when Telstar hosts FC Volendam.