Still licking their wounds from their Champions League exit, Feyenoord return to action in the Eredivisie when they journey to the De Grolsch Veste to take on FC Twente on Sunday.
While De club aan de Maas will be looking to secure a morale-boosting result, Joseph Oosting's men head into the weekend in search of a ninth consecutive home win across all competitions since the start of December.
Match preview
© Imago
Twente continued their push for Champions League qualification as they held their own to see out a 1-0 victory over Almere City when the two sides squared off last Sunday.
Sem Steijn continued his red-hot in front of goal as he netted his 20th league goal of the campaign in the 19th minute to give the Tukkers the lead before they repelled Almere's attack to see out all three points in front of their home supporters.
Twente have now gone three back-to-back games without defeat, claiming two wins and one draw, and are unbeaten in nine of their last 10 outings across all competitions — with a 5-2 hammering at the hands of Bodo/Glimt in the Europa League on February 20 being the exception.
With last weekend's result, Oosting's men have won each of their last eight games at the De Grolsch Veste across all competitions and are one of just three sides yet to suffer defeat at home in the Eredivisie this season, claiming nine wins and three draws to hold the division's third-highest point tally at home (30).
Twente have picked up 46 points from their 25 league matches so far to sit fourth in the league standings, two points and one place above this weekend's visitors, and three points behind third-placed Utrecht in the Champions League playoff spot.
© Imago
On the other hand, Feyenoord's Champions League dreams came to an end in midweek as they suffered a 2-1 defeat against Italian champions Inter Milan in the second leg of their round-of-16 clash at the San Siro.
A 2-0 victory in Netherlands one week earlier put the Serie A side in the driver's seat heading back home before Marcus Thuram and Hakan Calhanoglu scored either side of Jakub Moder's 42nd-minute strike to complete a 4-1 aggregate win and send the Nerazzurri through to the quarter-finals.
Feyenoord now turn their focus to the Eredivisie, where they played out a goalless draw with NEC Nijmegen last time out and are unbeaten in four consecutive outings, picking up two wins and two draws, having managed just one point from their four games preceding this run.
While Robin van Persie's men will be looking to move on from their Champions League disappointments this weekend, next up is a journey to the D, where they have failed to win any of their last five visits, losing twice and claiming three draws since a 3-1 victory in April 2018.
Results on the road also offer little optimism as Feyenoord are without a win in six of their most recent seven outings on the road — losing four and claiming two draws — with a penalty-shootout win over AC Milan on February 18 being the exception.
Team News
© Imago
Twente will take to the pitch without the services of Gerald Alders and Moroccan midfielder Younes Taha, who have been ruled out through knee and leg injuries respectively.
Ricky van Wolfswinkel missed the game against Almere City and is a doubt for this weekend's clash while Belgian midfielder Arno Verschueren was forced off injured in the aforementioned game six minutes after coming on as a substitute.
As for Feyenoord, Van Persie will be unable to name several players down the spine of the team as Igor Paixao (hip), Justin Bijlow (knee) and Calvin Stengs (ankle) all continue their spells on the sidelines.
The midfield Quinten Timber and Chris-Kevin Nadje are recuperating from ankle and foot injuries respectively while Swiss defender Jordan Lotomba has been ruled out through a severe leg injury.
They are joined on the club's injury table by In-Beom Hwang, Bart Nieuwkoop and Ramiz Zerrouki while Slovakian international David Hancko is suspended after crossing the yellow card threshold with his booking against Nijmegen on March 1.
FC Twente possible starting lineup:
Unnerstall; Van Rooij, Hilgers, Lagerbielke, Kuipers; Vlap, Sadílek; Rots, Steijn, Booth; Lammers
Feyenoord possible starting lineup:
Wellenreuther; Read, Beelen, Mitchell, Bueno; Moder, Smal, Ivanusec; Moussa, Carranza, Redmond
We say: FC Twente 2-1 Feyenoord
Reeling from their Champions League heartbreak, Feyenoord will head into the weekend looking to quickly bounce back as they push for a top-three finish in the league. However, Twente have been near impenetrable at home in recent weeks and we are backing them to come away with the desired result.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Joshua Ojele
