RKC Waalwijk will be looking to kickstart what has been a disastrous 2024-25 Eredivisie campaign so far when they welcome FC Twente to the Mandemakers Stadion on Saturday.
On the other hand, Twente will set out in search of an instant return to winning ways after a first defeat in seven matches across all competitions last time out.
Match preview
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Waalwijk had little reward for a highly spirited display against FC Utrecht last time out, which ended in an agonising 3-2 defeat at the Stadion Galgenwaard on October 5, just before international action took centre stage.
Denilho Cleonise had Henk Fraser's men dreaming of their first win after finding the back of the net early on before goals from Nick Viergever, Paxten Aaronson and David Min turned the game around, rendering Richonell Margaret's late penalty inconsequential.
That was defeat number eight on the bounce for RKC to leave them rooted to the bottom of the Eredivisie standings, eight points adrift of safety already after the opening eight rounds of matches.
Waalwijk have also conceded the most goals in the division so far (22), while only Almere City (two) have scored fewer than their tally of five, highlighting the need for vast improvements at both ends of the pitch.
Any chance of Saturday's hosts ending their losing streak this weekend has been dealt a huge blow by their record against the visitors, who have come out on top in all but one of the last six editions of this fixture.
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Twente enjoyed their highest league finish in a long while last time out, when they finished third, and they now sit fourth in the table despite not being at their best for large spells of the early exchanges of the current campaign.
Joseph Oosting's men kicked off proceedings with a 2-1 win over NEC but failed to win any of their subsequent three league involvements before picking up three domestic wins on the spin in the middle of a six-game unbeaten run.
The Tukkers avoided defeat against Manchester United and Fenerbahce en route to their aforementioned unbeaten run, but the challenge of Feyenoord last time out just proved to be too tough to navigate.
On a run of three Eredivisie matches without conceding, Twente were breached twice before half time, conceding strikes from Ayase Ueda and Hwang In-beom, after which Sem Steijn pulled one back in the 79th minute.
Saturday's visitors will make the journey this weekend confident of securing a positive outcome having not lost consecutive league games since February 2023—a run that currently spans 57 matches.
Team News
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Waalwijk defender Aaron Meijers is ineligible to play any part in Saturday's affair after he was shown a straight red card less than half an hour into the defeat to Utrecht.
Nouri El Harmazi is also a guaranteed absentee for this weekend due to a long-term shoulder problem which has kept him out of action since the turn of the year.
Richard van der Venne remains an injury doubt for the home side, but fellow Dutchman Luuk Wouters is available for selection after featuring for one hour last time out.
Twente's Younes Taha is still battling with a shin problem and remains a considerable way off making his comeback despite missing each of the last seven games.
Sem Steijn has now been directly involved in eight (seven goals and an assist) of his side's 14 league goals this term, making the 22-year-old one to keep an eye on.
RKC Waalwijk possible starting lineup:
Van Osch; Wouters, Van den Buijs, Van Eijma, Van Gelderen; Oukili, Weidmann; Lokesa, Van de Loo, Cleonise; Zawada
FC Twente possible starting lineup:
Unnerstall; Salah-Eddine, Bruns, Hilgers, Van Rooy; Vlap, Regeer; Van Bergen, Steijn, Rots; Lammers
We say: RKC Waalwijk 1-3 FC Twente
Twente are huge favourites to carry the day here and heap more misery on their hosts, who could really do with a pick-me-up.
Waalwijk have shown signs of some life in their recent encounters, but we can see them coming up well short this weekend.
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Adepoju Marvellous
