Sunday afternoon's Eredivisie action will get underway at De Grolsch Veste where FC Twente will be hoping to get back to winning ways when they play host to RKC Waalwijk.
The hosts are on 36 points and have slipped to sixth place in the league table, while the visitors are the first side below the dotted line with 17 points after 22 games.
Match preview
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Twente put themselves in a solid position in the Europa League playoff round by claiming a last-minute 2-1 victory over Norwegian outfit Bodo/ Glimt on Thursday thanks to a stoppage-time goal from Ricky van Wolfswinkel.
That result marked the Tukkers' third consecutive victory and fourth match unbeaten in Europe, but they now need to try and bring the same level of performance back to the domestic league where they have been slipping in the standings.
In their last top-flight match, Joseph Oosting's side squandered a two-goal lead against Heerenveen on the road and ended up having to settle for a 3-3 draw, marking their third consecutive league game without victory.
Notably, that result was also the fourth game in a row in which the Pride of the East conceded two or more goals, while the last time they maintained a clean sheet was in mid-December against Groningen.
However, despite their dip in form, the hosts have been very good at home this season, still unbeaten after nine games (W6 D3 L0), which is the third-best record in the division being PSV and Ajax.
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Meanwhile, after failing to win any of their last six matches in 2024 (W0 D3 L3), RKC Waalwijk went into the festive break bottom of the table and as the favourites to be relegated by the end of the season.
However, the New Year seems to have brought with it a change of fortune for the Yellow and Blues, who have taken 10 points from their last four league games, three more than they managed in their first 13 games of the season.
Their last match was by far their most impressive of the campaign to date, as Henk Fraser's side smashed in five goals without response against NAC Breda, marking their largest margin of victory since beating Heracles by the same scoreline in May last season.
That victory followed a draw against Sparta Rotterdam and wins over Willem II and Almere City, meaning that they have accumulated the second-most points in the top flight over the last four matchdays, only behind Ajax (12).
The visitors have avoided defeat in their last two away games, and if they are able to pick up another three points in this one, they could end the weekend out of the drop zone and in the relegation playoff spot ahead of their home game against Fortuna Sittard.
Team News
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Bas Kuipers was sent off in the draw against Heerenveen last time out, but he has been cleared after the KNVB's prosecutor dismissed the red card, meaning he will not need to serve a suspension for the incident.
Thus, the only confirmed absentee for the hosts this week is Younes Taha, who suffered a broken leg at the start of the season and is only expected to resume training at the start of next month.
For the visitors, Yanick van Osch is still sidelined due to injury, which will likely mean that 27-year-old Mark Spenkelink will continue as backup for Jeroen Houwen between the sticks this weekend.
Midfield duo Daouda Weidmann and Dario Van den Buijs are also unlikely to make the trip to Enschede this weekend owing to injury, while centre-back Roshon van Eijma is flagged as a doubt.
FC Twente possible starting lineup:
Unnerstall; Van Rooij, Bruns, Lagerbielke, Alders; Vlap, Sadilek; Ltaief, Steijn, Rots; Van Wolfswinkel
RKC Waalwijk possible starting lineup:
Houwen; Al Mazyani, Lelieveld, Van Gelderen, Familia-Castillo; Felida, Van de Loo, Oukili; Ihattaren; Margaret, Zawada
We say: FC Twente 2-1 RKC Waalwijk
After a very poor first half of the season, RKC Waalwijk seem to have found a second wind in the New Year and enter this match as one of the most in-form sides over the last four matchdays.
However, despite a few underwhelming results of late, Twente are a very difficult team to beat at De Grolsch Veste, and we feel they will be able to edge the visitors to victory in this one.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Devesh Jaganath
