Aiming to boost their hopes of a top-three finish in the Eredivisie table, FC Utrecht will travel to take on FC Twente on Sunday.
With three games remaining, the visitors trail third-placed Feyenoord by three points, while their hosts are 11 points worse off in fifth spot.
Match preview
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Twente head into the weekend aiming to strengthen their top-five standing in the Eredivisie, having bounced back from a dip in form last time out.
With nine league games remaining, the Tukkers remained in contention for a second straight top-three finish, but those hopes would fade away as a five-match winless run followed across March and April.
Their only points in that time came from consecutive draws against Fortuna Sittard and PEC Zwolle, before the rut culminated in a 3-1 home defeat to PSV Eindhoven late last month.
Then aiming to get back to winning ways and avoid dropping out of the top five, Joseph Oosting‘s side visited Sparta Rotterdam last weekend and succeeded in a 2-0 triumph as Michal Sadilek and Sem Steijn netted first-half goals.
Having kept hold of fifth spot with that return to winning ways, albeit only leading sixth-placed AZ Alkmaar by a single point with three matches left, Twente will bid to make it back-to-back three-point hauls on Sunday to further strengthen their standing.
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Their visitors, meanwhile, make the trip on Sunday aiming to extend a winning run and gain ground on the top three in the final run-in.
Heading into the final three games of the Eredivisie season, Utrecht find themselves fourth having amassed 62 points from their 31 outings, winning 18 and only losing five of those.
Following the most recent of those losses in mid-March, the Domstedelingen have ramped up the pressure on third spot with four victories and a draw from their last five outings, and they head into the weekend on the back of three straight wins.
After impressing in 3-1 and 4-0 home triumphs over Groningen and league leaders Ajax respectively, Ron Jans‘s side visited RKC Waalwijk last time out and dished out a second straight 4-0 beating with Oscar Fraulo, Sebastien Haller, Miguel Rodriguez and David Min on the scoresheet.
Now returning to action for the first time since late April, FC Utrecht find themselves out of reach of their fifth-placed hosts and just one point behind third-placed Utrecht with nine left to play for, and they will aim to strengthen their claim for the league’s final Champions League spot with a fourth straight win on Sunday.
Team News
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FC Twente could be unchanged from last week’s away win over Sparta Rotterdam, with Sam Lammers and Taylor Booth remaining sidelined by injuries.
Following his own return from injury last month, veteran Ricky van Wolfswinkel should continue to lead the line with support from Sem Steijn, who tops the Eredivisie’s scoring charts with 24 goals alongside five assists in 30 league appearances this season.
Michel Vlap and Daan Rots will complete the attacking setup, while Mathias Kjolo should again get the nod alongside Michal Sadilek in the engine room.
FC Utrecht should also avoid major changes after back-to-back 4-0 wins, although attacker Miguel Rodriguez will miss out through suspension on Sunday having received a fifth league yellow card of the season last time out.
Can Bozdogan, Zidane Iqbal, Rickson Van Hees will also remain confined to the treatment room, while defender Mike van der Hoorn is a fresh injury concern after being forced off in the 4-0 beating of RKC Waalwijk.
Borussia Dortmund loanee Sebastien Haller will again spearhead the attack, having scored in each of their last three league outings, while Oscar Fraulo will operate ahead of the midfield pairing of Alonzo Engwanda and Paxten Aaronson.
FC Twente possible starting lineup:
Unnerstall; Van Rooij, Hilgers, Van Hoorenbeeck, Kuipers; Sadilek, Kjolo; Rots, Steijn, Vlap; Van Wolfswinkel
FC Utrecht possible starting lineup:
Barkas; Horemans, Viergever, Didden, El Karouani; Engwanda, Aaronson; Toornstra, Fraulo, Cathline; Haller
We say: FC Twente 1-2 FC Utrecht
While FC Utrecht certainly face a tough test away to the fifth-placed side who got back to winning ways last time out, we back the visitors to leave with all three points on Sunday and ramp up their pursuit of third spot with a fourth straight victory after a two-week break.
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