Unbeaten in eight matches across all competitions, FC Twente welcome Heerenveen to De Grolsch Veste on Saturday in their first outing of 2022.
The away side make the journey having suffered a first defeat in six matches last time out and will be aiming to get back to winning ways.
Match preview
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FC Twente were held to a 1-1 stalemate by Utrecht when the sides faced off at the Stadion Galgenwaard on December 22.
Ron Jans's men took the lead in the 17th minute through Ricky Van Wolfswinkel and looked set to claim all three points before conceding a late equaliser to Mimoun Mahi.
As a result, the Tukkers have slipped to sixth place in the Eredivisie table, just four points ahead of the chasing pack in the race for a Conference League playoff spot.
The Enschede-based club now prepare to take on an opposing side who have proven to be a tough nut to crack, with four of the last six meetings ending with honours even.
However, Saturday's hosts did come away with a 3-2 victory in September's reverse fixture and will be looking for more of the same this weekend.
Heerenveen suffered a 3-0 defeat at the hands of Feyenoord on December 22 to round off the year on the back foot.
Johnny Jansen saw his men well and truly bested on the day as goals from Guus Til, Marcos Senesi and Bryan Linssen put them to the sword.
De Superfriezen are 10th in the league table as things stand, albeit outside the top half only on goal difference.
Currently with the joint second-best defensive record on the road this term, Saturday's visitors are set to be extensively tested by a side averaging just under 1.5 goals per game on home turf so far.
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Team News
Michal Sadilek received his marching orders last time out, and the Twente midfielder is ineligible to participate as he serves a suspension.
Wout Brama is ruled out through a muscle injury, while 29-year-old Jody Lukoki is yet to recover from a knee problem.
Kik Pierie has not featured since April when he picked up a long-term back injury, and he is not expected to be back in time for this one.
Pawel Bochniewicz remains without an appearance for Heerenveen this term, and he is joined on the sidelines by Erwin Mulder.
Lucas Woudenberg has missed the last two matches due to personal reasons but could make a return to the team ahead of the game on Saturday.
FC Twente possible starting lineup:
Unnerstall; Oosterwolde, Propper, Hilgers, Troupee; Vlap, Bosch, Rots; Limnios, Misidjan, Van Wolfswinkel
Heerenveen possible starting lineup:
Mous; Van Ewijk, Van Beek, Bakker, Kaib; Madsen, Halilovic, J.Veerman; Musaba, H.Veerman, De Jong
We say: FC Twente 1-1 Heerenveen
A share of the spoils has been a common feature in this fixture, and we can see this one panning out that way too. The teams are evenly matched and we expect them to cancel each other out.
Top tip
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 41.46%. A win for Heerenveen had a probability of 33.09% and a draw had a probability of 25.4%.
The most likely scoreline for a FC Twente win was 1-0 with a probability of 9.4%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (8.82%) and 2-0 (6.88%). The likeliest Heerenveen win was 0-1 (8.22%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (12.04%). The actual scoreline of 2-0 was predicted with a 6.9% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that FC Twente would win this match.
