Twente vs FC Eindhoven Predictions

There are still 13 rounds to go in the regular season, but the Eerste Divisie title is now surely Twente’s to lose after they opened up an eight point advantage at the top of the table with a 0-2 win at Jong PSV on Monday evening. The result made it nine victories on the spin for Marino Pusic’s side who look destined for a return to Eredivisie at the first time of asking, and they can move a further step closer to the top flight when they host FC Eindhoven at De Grolsch Veste this week.

It appeared as though we may get a close title race in Eerste Divisie this term with four clubs bang in contention going into the festive break, but 2009/10 Dutch champions Twente have seemingly put things to bed over the past few weeks with a tremendous winning run that doesn’t look like ending anytime soon.

As anticipated, Monday evening’s away fixture against 5^th placed Jong PSV was no cakewalk for the Enschede outfit, but they showed class and determination in equal measure to bag their ninth league victory in a row, thanks to an early strike from Aitor Cantalapiedra and a Tom Boere spot kick 20 minutes from time.

The 0-2 triumph also marked their seventh consecutive win on the road, and that’s where Twente have really set themselves apart from the rest so far this season. They have now racked up a massive 32 points from 13 games on their travels (W10, D2, L1), which is double the amount accrued by 4^th placed Sparta Rotterdam and 12 points more than 3^rd placed Go Ahead Eagles.

More crucially, they have eight more away points on the board than 2^nd placed Den Bosch who stumbled to a poor 0-0 stalemate at 18^th placed Jong AZ on Friday, and that’s the overall gap between the two teams heading into the final third of the campaign.

And with a far superior goal difference to boot, Twente have plenty of breathing space and can probably afford to make a few mistakes from here on in en route to lifting the title.

We don’t foresee Pusic’s charges slipping up too much mind, and they should bank a 10^th straight win when FC Eindhoven make the trip to De Grolsch Veste this week.

The visitors are right in the thick of a dogfight to reach the Play-offs, thanks to a five match winning streak earned between late December and early February, but David Nascimento’s men have gone off the boil somewhat over the last fortnight.

They were pegged back for a 1-1 draw against Jong Ajax at Jan Louwers Stadion last week after Branco van den Boomen gave them an early lead, and two weeks ago they succumbed to a 1-2 loss at home to Jong PSV having again hit the front.

Seeing their purple patch come to an end and effectively dropping four points from winning positions means that Blauw-witten are hardly going to be in the best of spirits going into this Friday’s daunting encounter with the champions elect, and the fact Twente have just seen off the same Jong PSV side that beat them recently also signals the gap in quality between the two teams.

FC Eindhoven did hold Twente to a 1-1 draw in October’s reverse fixture and travel to Enschede having won their last five matches on the road, but the hosts are markedly better now and we’re backing Pusic’s side to win covering a one goal handicap – something they’ve managed to achieve in six of their last seven fixtures. Twente may have to be patient early on, but we think they’ll run out 2-0 victors come full time.