Emmen will be looking to pull further clear of relegation trouble when they play host to FC Twente on Sunday in round 31 of the 2022-23 Eredivisie season.

On the other hand, the away side make the trip to De Oude Meerdijk this weekend aiming to keep their pursuit of automatic European football alive.

Match preview

Twente were denied a third consecutive home victory as they played out a thrilling 3-3 stalemate against Sparta Rotterdam at De Grolsch Veste two Sundays ago.

Ron Jans's men opened the scoring through Joshua Brenet midway through the first half but conceded quickfire goals from Tobias Lauritsen to trail 2-1, after which Dirk Abels's own goal and Vaclav Cerny's strike in quick concession turned the game on its head, only for Shurandy Sambo to level matters in second-half stoppage time.

Consequently, the Tukkers remain sixth in the Eredivisie table, eight points adrift of AZ Alkmaar in the race for the final guaranteed Conference League group-stage berth.

Up next is the challenge of an opposing outfit who are without a victory in the most recent four meetings between the teams, including a 2-0 defeat in this season's reverse fixture.

Having failed to score in their last two away matches leading up to Sunday's contest, the visitors will need to get going at the attacking end of the pitch to stand any chance of emerging triumphant here.

FC Emmen battled hard past to see off the threat of Heerenveen in a 3-2 win when the sides went head-to-head at the Abe Lenstra Stadion on April 22.

Dick Lukkien's men went 1-0 and 2-1 down but managed to draw level on both occasions through Ole ter Haar Romeny before Romeny completed his hat-trick late in the game to secure all three points.

With 28 points amassed so far, the Kannibals have moved out of the drop zone, albeit only on goal difference heading into the final rounds of matches.

In the first of four straight matches against teams in the top seven, Sunday's hosts now seek to make a bright start to what is set to be a frenetic end to the campaign.

Team News

Jeff Hardeveld, Mart Lieder and Maikel Kieftenbeld are ruled out for Emmen through knee injuries, while Rui-Jorge Mendes continues to nurse a muscle problem.

Twenty-four-year-old forward Metehan Guclu also misses out for the hosts through injury as he remains without an appearance since November.

Ole ter Haar Romeny's hat-trick against Heerenveen saw him move up to 10 league goals, which is the most he has ever scored in his top-flight career.

Twente's Max Bruns is set to sit out a third game on the bounce due to an ankle injury he picked up after coming as a second-substitute just under a month ago.

Following his goal and assist last time out, Vaclav Cerny is now up to 18 direct goal contributions for the visitors, making him one to keep an eye on.

Emmen possible starting lineup:
Van der Hart; Burnet, Dirksen, Araujo, Te Wierik; El Messaoudi, Veendorp; Antonisse, Diemers, Romeny; Zivkovic

FC Twente possible starting lineup:
Unnerstall; Brenet, Pleguezuelo, Propper, Smal; Zerrouki, Vlap, Sadilek; Cerny, Van Wolfswinkel, Misidjan

We say: Emmen 1-2 FC Twente

Twente have struggled to find the back of the net away from home of late but we expect them to resume normal service this weekend. We are also tipping the visitors to come away with all three points at the end of the 90 minutes.


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