Two sides with ambitions of European football come together on Saturday night when Champions League-hunting FC Twente host Fortuna Sittard, who are aiming to move into the top eight.
The hosts are third in the Eredivisie table, five points above AZ Alkmaar, while the visitors are in 10th and just four points behind eighth-placed FC Utrecht, who occupy the final Europa Conference League qualification playoff place.
Match preview
After the disappointment of failing to get through the qualification playoff rounds for the Europa Conference League at the beginning of the season, falling at the final hurdle as they lost 6-1 on aggregate to Fenerbahce, FC Twente are now in the positive position of looking at a third-placed finish and earning themselves a spot in the Champions League qualification games.
They sit five points better off than fourth-placed AZ with just six games left of the season, although one of their remaining games will pit those two sides against one another.
The hosts will want to keep at least the five-point lead they currently hold over AZ prior to that matchup in order to give them the best chance of keeping their current third place, and they will be confident of doing just that with their current form.
Joseph Oosting's men come into this match with just two losses in their last nine, winning six of the remaining seven games, while their home form will leave them with huge confidence ahead of this one.
FC Twente are the second-best side across the Eredivisie when playing in front of their home fans, taking 34 points from a possible 42 with just two losses and one draw in their 14 matches at De Grolsch Veste this season.
In comparison, Sittard are one of the worst-performing teams in the league when playing away from home, taking 10 points in their 14 games on the road, coming from two wins and four draws.
If Danny Buijs's men are to climb up the table and into the qualification playoff spots for the Europa Conference League, which they are just four points away from, then they must improve on their current form that has seen them lose five and draw three of their last 11 matches across all competitions.
Sittard have failed to beat FC Twente in any of the last three meetings between the two, losing all of those by 3-0 scorelines, leaving them as the underdogs in the upcoming matchup.
If the visitors are to take anything from this match it is likely to be because of their top scorer Kaj Sierhuis, who comes into this game in fantastic form with seven goals in his last six appearances.
Team News
FC Twente will be without their loan signing Myron Boadu for this game after he suffered a hamstring injury against Heracles at the end of March.
Outside of that, the hosts will be able to line up with a full-strength side that includes top-scoring duo Ricky van Wolfswinkel and Sem Steijn, who are both on 12 goals in the league this season.
As for the visitors, they will be missing veteran defender Dimitrios Siovas through suspension after he picked up his fifth yellow card of the campaign in their previous outing.
Arianit Ferati and Ragnar Oratmangoen are both unlikely to feature after picking up injuries in recent matches.
Sierhuis is expected to lead the line once again for his side having scored seven and assisted two in his last six appearances for Sittard in the league.
FC Twente possible starting lineup:
Unnerstall; Sampsted, Hilgers, Propper, Smal; Kjolo, Sadilek; Rots, Steijn, Vlap; Van Wolfswinkel
Fortuna Sittard possible starting lineup:
Verrips; Pinto, Guth, Voet, Dijks; Duarte, Ozyakup; Da Cruz, Halilovic, Cordoba; Sierhuis
We say: FC Twente 3-1 Fortuna Sittard
The home side have won all of the last three encounters between these two sides by 3-0 scorelines, and with them scoring an impressive 53 times in 28 games this season, we expect them to win this one with plenty of goals.
Sittard's top scorer Sierhuis is in fantastic form ahead of this one, and we expect him to continue that with yet another goal here, albeit in a losing effort.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Ellis Stevens
