Heerenveen and RKC Waalwijk will meet in another interesting KNVB Beker tie. The visitors are part of the second tier of national football and will have a challenging task to progress to the quarterfinals. Can RKC Waalwijk surprise Heerenveen? Let’s break down the match and find the best betting option. 

Heerenveen have another solid season. They are a mid-table Eredivisie team with a solid chance of playing in the Conference League playoffs. The last few weeks have been excellent for Robin Veldman’s team, which is unbeaten in its previous four matches. In the most recent outing, Heerenveen played 2-2 at home against Feyenoord. The home side was better, especially in the second half, and deserved another big point. A performance like that will surely boost Heerenveen’s confidence ahead of Thursday’s match against RKC Waalwijk.

Heerenveen’s head coach, Robin Weldman, wasn’t fully satisfied with a draw against Feyenoord. He said, “The players were also irritated on the pitch: we could have done better. We could have easily taken three points from the match. That speaks volumes about our positive play and attacking football. We also know there are still things we need to improve in the final stages, but we’re growing. They have to take us into account.”

Heerenveen have some problems with missing players. They will be without Bernt Klaverboer and Levi Smans, while Jacob Trenskow is questionable.

After six years in the top flight of Dutch football, RKC Waalwijk returned to Eerste Divisie this season. Some pundits saw them as one of the promotion candidates, but after more than halfway through the campaign, Sander Duits’ team is looking more like a mid-table team. RKC Waalwijk won only three of the last nine matches in all competitions. In the previous game, they won 2-0 on the road against Jong Ajax. The visitors ended with xG of 1.47, while the hosts had only 0.71, so RKC’s victory was well-deserved. 

RKC Waalwijk’s game on Thursday in Heerenveen will be the first for Duits’ team after more than 20 days. In the meantime, some changes have been made. Jordi Altena left RKC and signed for Hearts. On the other hand, the team from Waalwijk signed Yoram van der Veen, Quentin van Beekveld, and Tom Bramel. All three players could debut in the upcoming cup clash. 

RKC’s Tim van de Loo is injured and will not travel to Heerenveen, while Liam van Gelderen is questionable and his status will be clearer closer to the kickoff. 

Besiktas will host Keciorengucu at Tupras Stadium on Thursday in another round of the 2025-26 Turkiye Kupasi campaign. The hosts will be keen to pick up where they left off last year on their return to competitive action this midweek.

Besiktas had a slow start to the season but have picked up the pace in recent weeks, ending last year with four wins and three draws from their final seven games, and will hope to extend their unbeaten run when they face a lower-division side in the cup. The Black Eagles secured an exciting 2-1 victory over Fenerbahce in the opening round, with Vaclav Cerny completing his brace with a 91st-minute winner, and they could go top of the group with another win on Thursday.

Keciorengucu also got off to a winning start in the Turkish Cup, claiming a comfortable 3-1 victory over third-division side Beyoglu Yeni Carsi in the first round despite being reduced to 10 men in the first half. The visitors head into this midweek clash on a similar unbeaten run, with five wins and two draws from their last seven games, but will be up against much tougher opposition when they make the trip to Istanbul.

Besiktas vs Keciorengucu Head-to-Head and Key Numbers

• Thursday’s game will mark the first-ever meeting between the two sides.
• The Black Eagles have won the domestic cup on 11 previous occasions, most recently in the 2023-24 season, and have also finished as runners-up on six other occasions. The visitors, meanwhile, have never lifted the domestic crown.
• Only four teams in the Turkish second division have scored more goals in the league than Keciorengucu’s 36 after 20 games played this season.
• Besiktas have kept just two clean sheets in their last nine competitive outings.

Besiktas vs Keciorengucu Prediction

Kara Kartallar are heavy favorites going into Thursday’s game and will only need to avoid complacency to get an easy win against a side with much less quality.

Keciorengucu can only rely on the magic of the cup to avoid defeat and will likely try to protect their goal difference and keep the scoreline respectable.

Prediction: Besiktas 3-1 Keciorengucu

Besiktas vs Keciorengucu Betting Tips

Tip 1 – Over 1.5 goals First Half

Tip 2 – Goals – Over/under 2.5 – Over 2.5 goals (Five of the visitors’ last six games have produced more than 2.5 goals)

Tip 3 – Both teams to score: Yes (Both teams have gotten on the scoresheet in eight of the hosts’ last 10 games)