Separated by just one place last time out, Fortuna Sittard and FC Twente get their respective campaigns underway with their meeting on Saturday.
With 41 points from 34 games apiece, the teams finished level on points in the 2020-21 season where neither of them would have been too satisfied with their final position.
Match preview
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Twente did not have the best of pre-seasons, failing to win any of their four outings with two draws and two defeats, including a 1-0 loss to Lazio on Saturday.
Ciro Immobile's third-minute strike condemned Ron Jans's men to a second straight loss on home turf following a defeat to Venezia on August 3.
Away from home, the Tukkers are yet to claim all three points in any of their last six league games and will be keen to address an area of weakness which saw them endure a disappointing second half of the season last term.
Once again, Saturday's visitors will set out to start on a positive note as they have not been beaten on the opening day since they gained promotion back in 2019.
Fortuna finalised their pre-season round of matches with a 3-2 victory over Utrecht at the Stadion Galgenwaard on Saturday.
Sjors Ultee's men took the lead on two different occasions through an Eric Oelschlagel own goal and a Bassala Sambou strike, but they were pegged back both times thanks to goals from Anastasios Douvikas and Django Warmerdam, before Mats Seuntjens scored the winner from the spot.
The Fortunezen recorded their highest league position since gaining promotion in 2018 last time out following 15th and 16th-place finishes in the two campaigns prior.
Saturday's hosts get the ball rolling with a clash against a side who have emerged victorious in three of the four meetings involving the teams.
However, Fortuna did win the most recent clash back in May, when they claimed an emphatic 3-0 victory in their penultimate home game of the season.
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Team News
Vaclav Cerny and Julio Pleguezuelo missed huge chunks of last season with knee injuries and are yet to return to action.
Jody Lukoki is unlikely to make his debut for Twente as he is currently sidelined with a knee problem which saw him make just 11 appearances in all competitions for former club Yeni Malatyaspor.
Kik Pierie has been nursing a thigh injury since April, and the 21-year-old defender is set to sit out an eighth consecutive match.
Having directly contributed to 13 league goals for the home side last season, Lisandro Semedo will be a huge miss after he sustained an ankle injury while on international duty.
Zian Flemming netted three times in Fortuna's final two Eredivisie games, and the Dutchman will be looking to pick up where he left off.
Fortuna Sittard possible starting lineup:
Van Osch; Angha, Cox, Rota, Janssen; Tekie, Seuntjens, Flemming; Hansson, Sambou, Ferati
FC Twente possible starting lineup:
Unnerstall; Smal, Propper, Troupee, Oosterwolde; Ilic, Zerrouki, Bosch; Menig, Van Wolfswinkel, Cleonise
We say: Fortuna Sittard 1-1 FC Twente
The sides were neck and neck in the last campaign and both of them will see this weekend's game as a winnable one. However, we are predicting a share of the spoils with the teams cancelling each other out and settling for a point apiece.
Top tip
Adepoju Marvellous
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Fortuna Sittard win with a probability of 38%. A win for FC Twente had a probability of 35.65% and a draw had a probability of 26.3%.
The most likely scoreline for a Fortuna Sittard win was 1-0 with a probability of 9.81%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (8.32%) and 2-0 (6.51%). The likeliest FC Twente win was 0-1 (9.43%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (12.53%). The actual scoreline of 2-1 was predicted with an 8.3% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Fortuna Sittard would win this match.
