Telstar vs Twente Predictions

After a shock 1-2 reversal against TOP Oss at De Grolsch Veste on match day four, promotion chasing FC Twente bounced back comfortably on the road against Dordrecht last week. Marino Pusic’s side need to keep winning to stay in the hunt for automatic promotion, and they’ll fancy their chances of banking a fourth victory of the campaign when they travel to Ijmuiden to face Telstar this Friday.

Twente wrapped up the points by half time in Dordrecht last week, as a strike from Peet Bijen and an own goal from Antonio Stankov gave the Enschede outfit a 0-2 lead at the break.

Pusic’s team managed the second half well to preserve that score line through to the end, and they now sit 7^th in the table heading into this Friday’s game, amongst a clutch of sides on ten points after five matches.

The 2009/10 Dutch champions are naturally a big draw for the other teams in Eerste Divisie this term and it’s expected that the majority will step up to the plate and raise their game as TOP Oss did against them a fortnight ago.

That makes it tricky for Twente to achieve the winning consistency needed to secure automatic promotion back to Eredivisie, and Friday’s hosts Telstar will certainly make life tough for them at IJmond Stadion this week as the teams clash for the first ever time.

Mike Snoei’s side are absolute stalwarts of the second tier which they’ve played in for 41 consecutive seasons, but they made real progress last term to finish 6^th and qualify for the Play-offs.

They lost just three of their 19 home fixtures in 2017/18, amassing 36 points at IJmond Stadion which quickly became one of the most difficult venues for other teams to get anything from.

However, the new campaign hasn’t started quite so well for Telstar, with the Ijmuiden outfit losing three of their first five outings, including a 0-1 defeat to MVV at home on the opening night.

Fans would’ve hoped their team could really kick-on this term but Snoei’s side still look a notch or two below the best teams in the league in terms of quality – typified by their 2-0 defeat at leaders Cambuur on match day five.

Telstar are 12^th in the early standings with six points on the board following wins against Jong Utrecht (2-0) and Dordrecht (1-4), but we think they look set to drop a couple of places this week.

Their overall home record dating back to the start of last season has to be respected, but we still think they’re going to be vulnerable to teams like Twente at IJmond Stadion this term.

It won’t be plain sailing for the visitors here; the hosts are quite sound defensively, conceding just one goal per game and they’re a side that are rarely blown away in league fixtures.

But we think Twente represent good value for the three points and a surge into the Eerste Divisie top five, with 0-1 looking the most likely score line.