FC Twente Vs Emmen
Friday 25 October 2019 – 19:00 Kick-Off
Netherlands Eredivisie
Pick: Over 2.5 Goals & Yes (Total Goals & Both Teams to Score)
Odds: 4/5
Bookmaker: Bet365
Netherlands Eredivisie Betting – 22Bet
Preview: This will be a first ever meeting in the Dutch top-flight between these clubs, as FC Emmen travel to the De Grolsch Vesta stadium targeting their first away points of the season. Awaiting them are an FC Twente side desperate to avoid a fifth consecutive league defeat.
FC Twente Preview – Will the hosts finally pick up points again?
Entertainment, as opposed to points, is usually a guarantee whenever FC Twente take to the pitch at their De Grolsch Vesta stadium. Just the one win there all season for the home side is poor (W1 D2 L2), but four of their five contests there have finished with both teams among the goals – the only occasion whereby this didn’t occur was in last week’s disappointing 1-0 loss to Willem II.
That aforementioned loss continued a truly dismal stretch of results for the team currently under the management of a former Eredivisie journeyman, Gonzalo Garcia. The 36-year-old Uruguayan has overseen four straight league defeats, to Heracles (2-3), Feyenoord (5-1), Sparta (2-1) and, more recent, Willem II (0-1). All this after beginning the campaign with so much promise when opening with a six-match unbeaten run (W3 D3).
Unsurprisingly then, the club has plummeted down the league standings on the back of this dire form. However, it isn’t all doom and gloom: a win on Friday could see them climb back into the top half of the table, while next up is a home encounter with the poorest travelling side in the entire division. Then again, FC Twente have only beaten FC Utrecht at home all season. Moreover, they even drew with an RKC Waalwijk team whom everyone else has managed to beat, often convincingly.
FC Emmen Preview – Recent improvements to bring about first away points?
Following a dreadful start to 2019/20, FC Emmen are gradually finding their feet in what, it must be said, is only their second ever term in the highest division of Dutch football. Their maiden campaign in the top-flight would conclude with them in 14th, five points clear of the relegation play-off places; a successful season all things considered. Survival is once again their primary objective.
Their survival mission looked like being compromised when, after only the first six league games, the team had already succumbed to five defeats (W1 L5). But coach Dick Lukkien has since steered his side into a much more prosperous period, collecting seven points from their last four matches (W2 D1 L1) to climb out of the relegation zone. The latest a 2-1 victory at home to Fortuna Sittard.
This recent influx of points has come about solely from games staged at home, though, with the challenge now being translating that on their travels, an aspect they have subsequently struggled with all season. Their only loss in the last four came in their only away fixture in this sequence, away to Heracles (2-0) – their fourth away loss overall from four away matches (L4, GF2 GA12 on the road).
FC Twente V FC Emmen Key Facts:
- Twente have lost their previous four league matches, and have won only once at home all season (W1 D2 L2).
- Emmen have displayed some improved form of late with only one loss in their last four games (W2 D1 L1), but have taken zero points from four away fixtures this season.
- This will be the first occasion these clubs have encountered one another in the top-flight of Dutch football.
Betting Summary
These teams are in contrasting form at the present time. FC Twente have lost four consecutive games and won only once at home all season (W1 D2 L2), whereas FC Emmen have registered a healthy seven points from the last four league fixtures (W2 D1 L1) to breathe fresh impetus into their season. However, despite said recent improvements it remains the away form which has plagued the latter, who are still to register a single point on the road (L4).
Neither side can really put forth a compelling argument as to why they should win this. On that basis the match odds market might be best swerved. Instead, play safe with goals. FC Twente’s games at home have averaged 3.6 goals per game, with one of five failing to produce both teams scoring. Meanwhile, three of Emmen’s four away fixtures have produced at least three goals (the one match that didn’t produced two, so it was close).
