This is how teams performed in their previous opening matches

Tulp Hoofdklasse Women
In the women's competition, Amsterdam has been most successful in opening matches over the years. The 21-time national champion won 84 per cent of its 44 opening matches unbeaten, the highest winning percentage of any club. Amsterdam won the overture 37 times, drew four times and suffered only three defeats.

Den Bosch also - not entirely surprisingly - usually performs strongly on the first round, with 26 wins in 36 games. Only twice did the record champion face defeat in its opening match, most recently in 1994: 1-0 at Amsterdam. Den Bosch started the season with a win every time in the last eight seasons and last lost points on the first round of play in 2016-2017 (1-1 on visit to Hurley).

False start Bloemendaal
Bloemendaal, back at the top level after a year's absence, actually has a lousy report on the first round of play. The Mussen started the league with a defeat in 16 of their 23 seasons at the highest level. Only twice did the team manage to get off to a winning start: in 1989 against DKS (3-0) and in 2019 against Victoria (3-1).

Tilburg has plenty of room for improvement too: since the Brabanders made their debut in the Tulp Hoofdklasse in 2022, the team suffered three consecutive defeats on the first round.

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Tulp Hoofdklasse Men
Unlike the Bloemendaal women, the men are almost unapproachable in the opening weekend of a new season. No less than 39 of the 48 opening games resulted in a win, with six draws and only three defeats. The last one dates from 25 years ago: 3-2 at HGC.

After Bloemendaal (81.25 per cent), Kampong and Amsterdam have the highest winning percentage of all clubs in the Hoofdklasse. Kampong won 62 per cent of its fifty overtures, reigning national champions 57.69 per cent (thirty wins in 52 matches).

Faltering start for Hurley
Winning on the first round of play has proved the most difficult for Hurley in the past. Sixteen times, the Bosuilen were at the start of a premier league season and only twice did it deliver the desired start: in 2011 away against Kampong (3-6) and last season, at home against co-promoters SCHC (2-0).

Schaerweijde, which returned to the highest level this season, also usually struggles to win its first game of the season. The team from Zeist succeeded in three out of 16 times. It last happened in 2013, via a 3-0 win over Tilburg. Schaerweijde's last four opening games all went wrong, with the goal figures 2-19.