Barely three days after their recent European nightmare, FC Twente will set out to get back to winning ways when NEC come visiting De Grolsch Veste on Sunday afternoon.
A little over six months since August's reverse meeting, the home side have the opportunity to complete what would be a second league double in three years over their visitors.
Match preview
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Holding a 2-1 advantage from the first leg of their Europa League tie against Bodo/Glimt, Twente were 90 minutes away from a round-of-16 spot before suffering a humiliating 5-2 defeat in the second leg to crash out in disappointing fashion.
Having taken the lead on the night through a Fredrik Sjovold own goal to double their overall advantage at the time, Joseph Oosting's men were seemingly in cruise control but went on to concede three second-half goals, two of which came in stoppage time to force extra time, where they were put to the sword.
Sandwiched in between both legs of their European commitment was a routine 2-0 triumph over RKC Waalwijk on Sunday, a result that saw the Tukkers snap a run of three league games on the bounce without a victory.
Last week's win over Waalwijk put Twente right back in contention for third place in the Eredivisie table with a four-team battle set to unfold over the next couple of months to determine who rounds off the top three alongside Ajax and PSV Eindhoven.
Next up is the challenge of an opposing side that have won just one of the most recent six editions of this fixture, losing four of the other five either side of a 3-3 stalemate back in 2023.
Now without the added burden of European football, Sunday's hosts will seek to string together a decent run of results in the coming matches ahead of a daunting schedule at the end, which would see them play PSV, Utrecht, AZ Alkmaar and Ajax within a five-game span.
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NEC were just about able to avoid consecutive Eredivisie losses for the first time since the turn of the year after playing out a thrilling 2-2 stalemate against Almere City in Sunday's encounter at Stadion de Goffert.
A Sami Ouaissa opener in the third minute set Rogier Meijer's men off to a perfect start, but they went on to concede goals from Ricardo Visus and Hamdi Akujobi either side of half time before Vito van Crooy restored parity in the 94th minute.
Since kicking off the year with back-to-back league wins over PEC Zwolle and Fortuna Sittard by a combined score of 5-1, the Eniesee have now managed just two points from the subsequent three outings to sit 12th in the standings.
Trailing eighth-place Groningen by two points, NEC are still in with a shout in the race for Europe but have little margin for error with as many as seven other teams all within touching distance of the final continental spot.
Picking up just nine of their 25 points so far on the road, Sunday's visitors will need to up the ante on enemy territory as they prepare for three away clashes over the next four matches.
Team News
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Younes Taha remains unavailable for FC Twente this weekend through a leg fracture, and the midfielder is still facing a lengthy spell out of action on the sidelines.
Sem Steijn has found the back of the net 10 times in his last 11 matches across all competitions for the home side, and the Dutchman is definitely one to keep an eye on.
Kodai Sano is set to miss a fourth straight game for NEC due to injury, while Philippe Sandler is a major doubt after coming off injured against Almere last time out.
Should Sandler be deemed unfit to participate, Bram Nuytinck will be expected to return to the starting lineup to partner Ivan Marquez at the heart of the defence.
Twenty-nine-year-old Vito van Crooy has directly contributed to a goal in four straight games for the visitors and will be looking to come up with the goods once again.
FC Twente possible starting lineup:
Unnerstall; Kuipers, Lagerbielke, Bruns, Van Rooy; Vlap, Sadilek; Ltaief, Steijn, Rots; Lammers
NEC possible starting lineup:
Roefs; Verdonk, Marquez, Nuytinck, Pereira; Proper, Hoedemakers; Ouaissa, Van Crooy, Hansen; Linssen
We say: FC Twente 2-1 NEC
Twente were dealt a huge blow on the continental scene last time out and will be keen to serve up an immediate response in front of their fans this weekend.
We are backing the home side to get the job done and come out victorious, albeit by only a narrow margin.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Adepoju Marvellous
