In search of back to back victories, Sparta Rotterdam and FC Twente face off at the Het Kasteel in round 13 of the 2021-22 Eredivisie season.
Both teams returned to winning ways just before the international break and will be looking to pick up where they left off.
Match preview
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Sparta Rotterdam recorded a second consecutive triumph away from home across all competitions by beating Willem II 3-0 on November 6.
Two goals from Bart Vriends and a second-half strike from Emanuel Emegha propelled Henk Fraser's men to all three points in Tilburg.
While that emphatic win was not enough to lift De Kasteelheren out of the bottom three, it has moved them to within a point of safety and things are looking up once again.
Awaiting them next is the challenge of an opposing side against whom they have won and lost four games apiece in the last 10 meetings between the teams since 2016, while also playing out two stalemates in that time.
Saturday's hosts, who square up against defending champions Ajax in their next outing, will be keen to secure a morale-boosting result this weekend.
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FC Twente won on home turf for the first time in three outings following a 1-0 victory over Heracles Almelo two Fridays ago.
Mees Hilgers opened the scoring for Ron Jans's men in the fifth minute and that proved to be the difference at the Grolsch Veste Stadium.
With 18 points from 12 outings so far, the Tukkers are sixth in the Eredivisie table as things stand and are on course for continental qualification.
Off the back of a 5-2 thrashing in their last away match, Saturday's visitors will be wary of being on the wrong of another heavy defeat on the road.
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Team News
Eighteen-year-old Emanuel Emegha found the back of the net three times for the Netherlands Under-19s over the international break and is one to keep an eye on.
Twente will be without the services of Vaclav Cerny and Jody Lukoki who remain sidelined with knee injuries.
Luca Everink has sat out the last five games through a muscle injury, while Kik Pierie is currently nursing a back problem.
Ramiz Zerrouki has scored three goals in his last two away appearances and will be looking to continue this fine run in front of goal.
Sparta Rotterdam possible starting lineup:
Okoye; Masouras, Beugelsdijk, Vriends, Pinto; Abels, Mijnans, Smeets; Auassar, Emegha, Thy
FC Twente possible starting lineup:
Unnerstall; Smal, Hilgers, Propper, Plezueguelo; Sadilek, Zerrouki, Vlap; Rots, Van Wolfswinkel, Misidjan
We say: Sparta Rotterdam 1-2 FC Twente
Judging by their respective league standings, Twente are the favourites to claim all three points in this one, and while we expect the home side to give them a run for their money, we are backing the away team to come out on top at the sound of the final whistle.
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 FC Twente win with a probability of 40.91%. A win for Sparta Rotterdam had a probability of 33.74% and a draw had a probability of 25.3%.
The most likely scoreline for a FC Twente win was 0-1 with a probability of 9.17%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-2 (8.77%) and 0-2 (6.71%). The likeliest Sparta Rotterdam win was 1-0 (8.18%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (11.97%). The actual scoreline of 0-1 was predicted with a 9.2% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted a 0-1 win for FC Twente in this match.
