Hoping to climb into the top four of the Eredivisie table, FC Twente will travel to take on Go Ahead Eagles on Sunday.
The visitors find themselves fifth in the midst of a 12-game unbeaten run in the league, while their hosts have dropped to 13th spot following a dip in their form.
Match preview
© Reuters
After a tough start to the new Eredivisie season, Go Ahead Eagles quickly turned their form around with an 11-game unbeaten run to move onto 19 points from their opening 16 outings.
That run was eventually put to an end by a 4-1 beating at home to AZ Alkmaar, and Rene Hake's side have struggled to bounce back since, with the defeat followed by away losses at the hands of PSV Eindhoven and RKC Waalwijk.
They were then able to make an important return to winning ways to halt their slide, beating NEC 1-0 thanks to Finn Stokkers's first-half goal, but the pride of the Ijssel now come into the weekend on the back of two more consecutive defeats, firstly dropping out of the KNVB Beker at the round-of-16 stage against ADO Den Haag, before falling short away at Sparta Rotterdam last time out.
After they trailed by a goal to nil at the interval, Stokkers would draw Go Ahead Eagles level early in the second half, but Tobias Lauritsen quickly restored the hosts' lead to ensure that they took all three points.
Having now dropped to 13th spot, albeit with a healthy six-point lead over the bottom three after the halfway mark of the campaign, Hake's men will be keen to put an end to their tough run and begin climbing back up the division this weekend.
That will be no easy task, though, as the visitors arrive hoping to crack the top four and extend their lengthy unbeaten run in the Dutch top flight.
Since falling short away at Feyenoord in early October, Ron Jans's team have gone 12 matches without a defeat in the Eredivisie, albeit with six of those being draws, including three consecutive shares of the spoils across late January and early February, culminating in a disappointing 1-1 draw away at basement side Groningen as Oliver Antman drew the strugglers level 20 minutes from time after Sem Steijn's early opener.
The Tukkers would then taste defeat in competitive action for the first time since October, as they also dropped out of the KNVB Beker in the round of 16 following a 1-0 defeat to Dutch champions Ajax, before setting out to return to winning ways on Sunday when they hosted Volendam.
Joshua Brenet gave them the lead in the 16th minute of that contest, and Vaclav Cerny and Mees Hilgers would complete a five-minute salvo to quickly make it three and ensure they came away with an 11th three-point haul of the season in their 21st attempt, having only suffered three league losses all campaign.
Now only trailing fourth-placed PSV Eindhoven by two points and third-placed Ajax by three points, Jans's side will know that they can further improve their position in the fight at the top end of the Eredivisie if they are able to put a run of victories together, with their sights set on another triumph on Sunday.
Team News
Finn Stokkers should continue to lead the line for Go Ahead Eagles with confidence, having found the net in back-to-back Eredivisie games ahead of the weekend.
He should be joined by Isac Lidberg with additional support from Bobby Adekanye, both of whom sit joint-top of the side's scoring charts with five goals this term, while Oliver Valaker Edvardsen, who is also level on five, remains sidelined by an injury.
Jay Idzes should continue to play an important role at the base of the midfield, with Jamal Amofa and Gerrit Nauber set to partner up in the middle of a back four again.
After last Sunday's resounding performance, FC Twente will likely come into the weekend with an unchanged starting XI in Ron Jans's preferred 4-3-3 setup, with Ricky van Wolfswinkel again set to lead the line having netted seven goals and provided five assists in 21 Eredivisie appearances so far this season.
Winger Vaclav Cerny took his own tally to seven league goals for the campaign with their second in the 3-0 victory last time out, and he will certainly keep his place in the front three, with Virgil Misidjan set to operate on the other flank.
Ramiz Zerrouki is a mainstay in midfield and should again be joined by Anass Salah-Eddine and Sem Steijn, while the back four of Joshua Brenet, Mees Hilgers, Robin Propper and Gijs Smal is bound to remain unaltered.
Go Ahead Eagles possible starting lineup:
De Lange; Deijl, Nauber, Amofa, Oppegard; Idzes; Rommens, Blomme; Adekanye; Stokkers, Lidberg
FC Twente possible starting lineup:
Unnerstall; Brenet, Hilgers, Propper, Smal; Steijn, Zerrouki, Salah-Eddine; Cerny, Van Wolfswinkel, Misidjan
We say: Go Ahead Eagles 0-2 FC Twente
FC Twente will be full of confidence given their growing unbeaten run and impressive return to winning ways last time out, and we back them to cruise past an out-of-sorts Go Ahead Eagles side on Sunday, even away from home.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
