Twente vs Telstar Predictions

A few weeks ago, it looked like runaway leaders Twente were going to sew up the Eerste Divisie title with several games to spare, but Marino Pusic’s side are now stumbling across the finish line following back to back defeats against RKC and Dordrecht. It’s not exactly panic stations just yet for the Enschede club as they still hold a seven point advantage over Sparta Rotterdam at the head of affairs with five matches remaining, but they will be keen to quell the nerves this Friday when they turn out at De Grolsch Veste once again to take on Mike Snoei’s Telstar.

It’s easy to understand how a team can get the jitters when they are on the brink of promotion, but Twente really haven’t been themselves over the past fortnight.

After a tremendous run of 14 wins and one draw from 15 games to storm clear by 11 points at the top, Twente were dispatched 4-1 by Play-off hopefuls RKC in Waalwijk on match day 32 and they were then turned over 0-1 at home by basement dwellers Dordrecht last Friday.

Twente were priced up as the 1/7 favourites for the latter which emphasises the shock which Schappenkoppen managed to cause, however the Enschede outfit were extremely poor and a shadow of the side which has dominated the rest of the second tier for long periods this term.

Twente will, in all likelihood, still wrap up the Eerste Divisie title and if they are back to their best it would not be a surprise to see them regain the winning thread this Friday against a Telstar side who they beat 1-3 in IJmuiden earlier this season.

Nonetheless, the hosts should be avoided here at around the 1/3 mark based on their recent performances and the fact that Telstar are currently the form team in the division.

Mike Snoei’s charges eased past Cambuur 4-2 at home on match day 33 to make it six wins from their last seven league outings, and they had victories against 4^th placed Den Bosch (3-4) and 3^rd placed Go Ahead Eagles (2-3) on their dance card in that spell.

After being well adrift a couple of months ago, Telstar now have an outside chance of reaching the Play-offs and momentum will definitely be on their side if they are involved in May. They still have a five point deficit to make up to the top nine, but another positive result here could well see that gap reduce further and they have winnable fixtures against Almere City, Volendam, Roda JC and Jong PSV to come.

We know that Eerste Divisie can make a mockery of the form book sometimes and of course, teams such as Telstar don’t tend to go more than a few games before suffering a defeat. That being said, the visitors have to merit support in the double chance market this Friday on the strength of their recent results and odds of around 5/2  available more than factor in the possibility that they will run out of steam and/or Twente will put their best foot forward.

This should be a really entertaining fixture as both teams will be chasing the three points for different reasons, but we’re predicting a 2-2 correct score in Enschede at the final whistle.