Unbeaten in their last five matches, FC Twente face off against AZ Alkmaar at De Grolsch Veste on Saturday evening in round 17 of the 2023-24 Eredivisie season.
Meanwhile, the visitors make the trip to Enschede seeking to get back to winning ways having had to make do with a share of the spoils last time out.
Match preview
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AZ Alkmaar played out a 2-2 stalemate against Borussia Dortmund when the teams faced off at the Marbella Football Center on Saturday afternoon.
Pascal Jansen's men raced to a two-goal lead thanks to Vangelis Pavlidis and Jens Odgaard before Marcel Sabitzer and Marco Reus both netted in the second half to restore parity.
The Cheeseheads were thrashed 4-0 by PSV Eindhoven in their last league encounter, which saw them slip to fourth place in the Eredivisie table.
Awaiting them next is the challenge of an opposing outfit who have been beaten in just one of the last five editions of this fixture, winning three of the other four.
Currently on a run of just one win from their last seven matches on the road, Saturday's visitors have work to do to turn things around away from home in their quest for a top-three finish.
Twente and VFL Osnabruck were involved in a share of the spoils in Monday's friendly encounter at Oliva Nova Golf & Beach Resort Campo 1.
Joseph Oosting's men broke the deadlock through Younes Taha but soon found themselves trailing to goals from Kwasi Okyere Wriedt and Niklas Wiemann,before Youri Regeer restored parity just shy of the hour mark.
With 34 points from 16 matches this term, the Tukkers sit third in the standings, one points clear of their next opponents heading into this weekend's clash.
Having conceded eight goals in their most recent three home matches, Saturday's hosts will need to keep things tight at the back to stand a good chance of getting the job done here.
Team News
Sven Mijnans and Sem Westerveld are both ruled out for AZ Alkmaar through knee injuries, and neither of them will play any part in this one.
The away side will also be without the services of Mathew Ryan and Yukinari Sugawara, who are currently on international duty with Australia and Japan respectively.
Younes Taha has found the back of the net in three of his last four matches for club and country, making the midfielder one to keep an eye on.
Defender Mees Hilgers recently made his return to action from a suspension and will be expected to retain his place in the hosts' starting lineup.
FC Twente possible starting lineup:
Unnerstall; Smal, Propper, Hilgers, Sampsted; Sadilek, Kjolo; Vlap, Steijn, Rots; Ugalde
AZ Alkmaar possible starting lineup:
Owusu-Oduro; Wolfe, Martins Indi, Bazoer, Kasius; Odgaard, De Wit, Clasie; Van Brederode, Pavlidis, Addai
We say: FC Twente 2-2 AZ Alkmaar
Goals have been a real feature of this fixture, and we are anticipating another entertaining affair here. That said, we are backing the sides to cancel each other and settle for a point apiece in the end.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
