Preview: FC Twente vs. Ajax - prediction, team news, lineups

FC Twente take on Ajax at De Grolsch Veste on Sunday afternoon, in a match between two sides still unbeaten at this early stage of the Eredivisie campaign.

The hosts have won their first three league games, while the visitors have picked up five points, having won one and drawn two of their opening three.

Match preview

FC Twente have made a perfect start to the Eredivisie season, as they look to build on a fifth-placed finish last term, which meant they qualified for the league's Europa Conference League playoffs, going on to beat Sparta Rotterdam 1-0 in the final.

However, the Tukkers were not as impressive in qualification for the Europa Conference League, losing 6-1 to Fenerbahce on aggregate, meaning they will not be playing in European competition this season.

Joseph Oosting will be disappointed his side fell at the final hurdle, but the new manager can still take a lot of positives out of the start they have made to the season, winning three games on the spin.

Twente kicked off the campaign with a 4-1 victory against newly-promoted Almere City, before going on to beat another new Eredivisie side at home, defeating PEC Zwolle 3-1 on home soil.

Last time out, the Tukkers picked up a solid 2-0 victory at FC Volendam, maintaining their perfect record at the start of the campaign, but they are set for their first big test of the season on Sunday.

Indeed, Ajax are likely to put up far more of a fight than Twente's previous opponents, but they may be a little disappointed with the start they have made to the campaign, taking just five points from their opening three games.

After picking up a 4-1 victory against Heracles on the opening day, the Sons of the Gods have gone on to draw their last two games, against Excelsior and Fortuna Sittard, and they looked particularly poor in their most recent Eredivisie match.

Away against Fortuna Sittard, Maurice Steijn's side would have been expected to pick up three points, but they rode their luck to even pick up a point in the end, with the hosts missing a penalty in the 10th minute.

The only positive for Ajax at the start of the campaign is that, unlike FC Twente, they have managed to book their place in Europe for this season, reaching the Europa League group stages thanks to a 4-2 victory against Ludogorets on aggregate.

Team News

Two FC Twente players remain sidelined, with Joshua Brenet still recovering from an injury which has ruled him out of the last three games, while Mees Hilgers has been absent for the last two.

Given that his side have won three games on the spin, Oosting is unlikely to ring the changes, but Ricky van Wolfswinkel may replace Manfred Ugalde at striker, having scored the second goal in the 2-0 win against Volendam last time out.

Ajax's recent trip to Fortuna Sittard was made more difficult by the fact they have a number of players out with injury, including goalkeeper Geronimo Rulli, who misses out with a shoulder injury.

As such, Jay Gorter is likely to get the nod between the sticks, while Chuba Akpom could get the nod over Brian Brobbey in attack, as the 21-year-old sustained an injury in the last match.

FC Twente possible starting lineup:

Unnerstall; Sampsted, Bruns, Propper, Regeer; Kjolo, Sadilek, Rots, Steijn, Vlap; Van Wolfswinkel

Ajax possible starting lineup:

Gorter; Rensch, Sutalo, Hato, Avila; Van Den Boomen, Tahirovic, Hlynsson, Mikautadze, Borges; Brobbey

We say: FC Twente 1-1 Ajax

FC Twente have made a promising start to the season, but the fixture list has been kind to them, coming up against two newly-promoted sides.

As such, we do not expect the hosts to make it four wins on the bounce this weekend, but they may be good enough to get a point, given that Ajax have made a slow start to the season.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.