Will father and son bring success back to the Maas?
The hosts enjoyed a highlight of their season last weekend with the Rotterdam derby against Sparta. However, the city duel ended on a low note for Feyenoord, with their archrivals winning 4-3 away.
Now coach Robin van Persie’s team faces a challenge in the Europa League, and we have a tip for the match between Feyenoord Rotterdam and Sturm Graz! The “stadium club” has also been unsuccessful on the European stage recently, losing its last three games and suffering a total of nine defeats in all European competitions (including qualifying games) in 2025.
Feyenoord has never had so many defeats in a calendar year before! In addition, the team conceded 30 goals – also the worst European annual record in the club’s history. Nevertheless, Rotterdam can now be confident against Sturm.
Graz has never won an away game (including qualifying matches) in the Netherlands in six attempts and has lost the last four games in a row (0-1-5). However, given the home side’s defensive problems, we do not expect a shortage of goals and are predicting that both teams will score in the match between Feyenoord Rotterdam and Sturm Graz.
We also believe that Shaqueel van Persie will score for the home side. The son of Dutch striker legend Robin van Persie, who, as mentioned, currently also works as a coach in Rotterdam, is not yet 20 years old, but he already shows his father’s notorious accuracy.
In the dress rehearsal for last weekend’s match, he scored his first two goals in what was also his first Eredivisie match, playing for more than 20 minutes! We now expect him to carry this momentum into the European arena.
This is also supported by the fact that Sem Steijn, last season’s top scorer in the Eredivisie, has only recently returned from injury and is likely still lacking competitive practice. On top of that, Ayase Ueda, the top striker this season with 18 goals in as many national league games, is currently out of form, having now gone five competitive games without scoring.
Feyenoord Rotterdam – Sturm Graz Head-to-head record
The teams from the Netherlands and Austria have already faced each other once in the Europa League. The two matches took place in the group stage of the 2022/23 season, with Rotterdam recording a clear 6-0 victory on home turf.
However, Feyenoord then lost the away game in Graz 1-0. For the next edition of Feyenoord Rotterdam vs. Sturm Graz, the odds clearly point to another home win for the Dutch.
Feyenoord Rotterdam – Sturm Graz Tip
Admittedly, Graz has the fifth-worst shoot conversion rate at 6.6 percent – only three teams score fewer goals. Especially in the second halves, the players from Styria are harmless in their forward play: the Blackies are the only club in this year’s Europa League that has not scored a single goal after the break.
Another unflattering statistic for Sturm is that they have the lowest pass completion rate of all teams in the EL at 76.7 percent. Nevertheless, there are signs that the visitors will score at least one goal. Rotterdam’s defense is very weak and they are one of nine teams in the competition still waiting for a clean sheet.
In addition, Feyenoord has exceeded its expected goals against value of 6.8 by 6.2 goals – the worst record in the EL! Among other things, the home defense takes too long to get up to speed in the first half: in five of six EL games, the home team conceded the first goal.
After three consecutive defeats, the hosts must now play for a win against Jürgen Säumel’s visiting team if they are to remain in the competition, which in turn suggests an open game.
Against this backdrop and with the home defense looking shaky, the betting odds for both teams to score in the match between Feyenoord Rotterdam and Sturm Graz look promising. This prediction is supported by the hosts’ status as favorites, who we believe have the better chance of winning this duel despite all their defensive difficulties.
