The race to secure continental football heats up in round 29 of the 2022-23 Eredivisie season as FC Utrecht and FC Twente go head-to-head on Sunday afternoon.
Off the back of respective wins in their last outings, both teams will head into this weekend's encounter at the Stadion Galgenwaard on a high.
Match preview
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FC Twente made it three victories from four matches thanks to an empathic 4-0 thrashing of SC Cambuur at De Grolsch Veste Stadium on Sunday.
Ron Jans's men raced to a three-goal lead by half time thanks to strikes from Ricky Van Wolfswinkel, Michel Vlap and Sem Steijn before Joshua Brenet put the final nail in the coffin 13 minutes from time.
As a result, the Tukkers remain fourth in the Eredivisie table, three points adrift of AZ Alkmaar in the race for the final automatic European place.
Next up is a clash against an opposing outfit with little to choose between the teams as the last nine meetings have yielded four wins apiece for either side and one stalemate.
Currently boasting just one victory from their last 11 outings on enemy territory leading up to Sunday's affair, the visitors set out to secure a rare win away from home, where they have picked up less than a third of their 51 points this term.
Utrecht ended a five-game winless run across all competitions by narrowly beating Groningen 2-1 at the Euroborg Stadium on Friday evening.
Michael Silberbauer's men opened the scoring in first-half stoppage time through Anastasios Douvikas but were pegged back moments later by Oliver Antman before Bas Dost grabbed the winner 30 minutes into the second period.
Having now amassed 42 points from their 28 outings to date, the Domstedelingen occupy seventh place in the league standings and are on course to secure a Conference League playoff place.
Currently with the second-fewest goals scored on home turf, Sunday's hosts will need to turn things around at the attacking end of the pitch to stand any chance of coming away with all three points here.
Team News
Mees Hilgers is set to miss a third consecutive game for Twente due to a muscle problem, while Manfred Ugalde continues to nurse a damaged knee.
The away side will also be without Michal Sadilek, but fit-again Mathias Kjolo could be recalled to the starting XI having recently made his return to action.
Utrecht's Calvin Raatsie is still sidelined with an ankle problem, and the Dutchman is joined on the treatment table by compatriot Ramon Hendriks.
Can Bozdogan and Django Warmerdam are also ruled out for hosts through knee injuries, but Taylor Booth is expected to be passed fit to play here, despite coming off with a first-half injury last time out.
Bas Dost found the back of the net in his second cameo outing since making his comeback, and the 35-year-old will push for a place in the hosts' lineup.
FC Utrecht possible starting lineup:
Barkas; Van der Maarel, Viergever, Van der Hoorn, Klaiber; Van de Streek, Brouwers, Toornstra; Ramselaar, Douvikas, Dost
FC Twente possible starting lineup:
Unnerstall; Brenet, Pleguezuelo, Propper, Smal; Steijn, Zerrouki, Vlap; Cerny, Van Wolfswinkel, Misidjan
We say: FC Utrecht 1-2 FC Twente
Both teams are in contrasting forms heading into Sunday's meeting, but we expect an open and end-to-end affair notwithstanding. We can also see the away side narrowly emerging victorious at the end of the 90 minutes.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Adepoju Marvellous
