Preview: FC Twente vs Go Ahead Eagles - prediction, team news, lineups

Round 16 of the 2025-26 Eredivisie season sees FC Twente and Go Ahead Eagles face off at De Grolsch Veste on Sunday afternoon.

Having both played out stalemates in their last league outings, the teams will head out in search of a return to winning ways to get their European ambitions back on track.

Match preview

Despite being hard to beat of late, Twente have struggled for wins as their share of the spoils against Utrecht last Sunday marked a fifth draw in seven matches across all competitions.

Nonetheless, John van den Brom would have been pleased by his side's relentlessness, with Mats Rots's leveller last time out the seventh goal Twente have scored in the final 15 minutes of matches so far, accounting for over 30% of their 23 strikes.

Sitting eighth in the Eredivisie table, Twente are just about managing to hold on to the final European spot but will know that results must improve going forward if they are to secure continental football.

Off the back of winning three straight meetings against Go Ahead Eagles, the Tukkers are without a victory in two editions of this fixture since the turn of the year, having been dumped out of the KNVB Beker in January's affair, three weeks before a thrilling 3-3 draw.

With clean sheets in each of their last three home matches, Sunday's hosts have been defensively solid in front of their fans lately, and another solid showing at the back would put them in pole position to secure maximum points.

Featuring in the group stages of a UEFA competition for the first time in 40 years, Go Ahead Eagles' continental commitment has unsurprisingly taken its toll after Thursday's 2-1 defeat to Ligue 1 outfit Lyon extended their winless streak to five matches.

While Melvin Boel's men have shown they can match up to almost anyone on their day, with wins over Aston Villa and Feyenoord huge testaments to that, a lack of consistency has remained an Achilles' heel.

Boasting the same number of points as this same stage last season (18), the pride of the IJssel Kowet are once again in the hunt for a place in Europe and are just three points shy of Twente.

Given their record of just one win in eight Eredivisie away matches so far, Go Ahead Eagles have been underwhelming on their travels ahead of their trip to Enschede, where they will be aiming to pick up a first league triumph since 2018.

Like their hosts, Sunday's visitors also have a KNVB Beker tie against a lower-league opponent on the horizon, but the immediate focus will be on claiming maximum points from this weekend's affair to potentially lift themselves into the top eight.

FC Twente Eredivisie form:

FC Twente form (all competitions):

Go Ahead Eagles Eredivisie form:

Go Ahead Eagles form (all competitions):

Team News

Twente trio Taylor Booth, Max Bruns and Naci Unuvar are currently nursing muscle problems and will not be available to play any part in Sunday's affair.

Daouda Weidmann also misses out with a thigh issue that has kept him out of action since September, as Mees Hilgers continues his lengthy spell on the sidelines due to an anterior cruciate ligament injury.

With six yellow cards already in 14 matches, Robin Propper has already served a one-game suspension and will need to keep his discipline in check to avoid another ban.

Soren Tengstedt has not featured for Go Ahead Eagles this term after suffering a foot injury in pre-season, although the Dane is expected to make his comeback early next year.

Pim Saathof and Robbin Weijenberg are both down with knee problems, while Gerrit Nauber rounds off the visitors' absentees through a broken leg.

FC Twente possible starting lineup:

Unnerstall; Rots, Propper, Lemkin, Van Rooy; Zerrouki, Van den Belt; Pjaca, Hlynsson, Orjasaeter; Van Wolfswinkel

Go Ahead Eagles possible starting lineup:

De Busser; James, Kramer, Van Zwam, Deijl; Rahmouni, Meulensteen; Suray, Goudmijn, Margaret; Smit

We say: FC Twente 3-1 Go Ahead Eagles

Suffering defeats in five of their last six matches on the road, Go Ahead Eagles' away woes have plagued their campaign, and Twente will be looking to take full advantage.

The last five meetings between Sunday's opponents have yielded a combined 20 goals, so entertainment has been in high supply in this fixture.

We fully expect that to continue here with the hosts running out routine winners come the end of the 90 minutes.

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