FC Twente to notch healthy first-leg advantage over Sparta Rotterdam
Sparta Rotterdam vs FC Twente - 08/06/2023
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Sparta Rotterdam welcome FC Twente to the Sparta Stadion on Thursday for the first leg of the Eredivisie European play-off final.
After 34 regular-season matches, sixth-placed Sparta Rotterdam finished five points behind fifth-placed FC Twente in the final Eredivisie standings.
With a place in European competition up for grabs, both sides will be eager to gain a first-leg lead on Thursday. But who will come out on top?
Sparta Rotterdam booked their place in the play-off final by defeating Utrecht 5-4 on penalties, after the two sides served up a 2-2 aggregate draw.
Despite losing the second leg 1-0, Sparta Rotterdam head into the final in good form, having won eight of their last 13 encounters.
It is also worth noting that Sparta Rotterdam have been especially strong at the Sparta Stadion this season, winning 10 of their 17 regular-season games on home soil.
Having avoided defeat at half time in each of their previous 16 home league outings, Sparta Rotterdam are expected to make a strong start to Thursday’s clash.
As for FC Twente, they punched their ticket to the play-off final with a dominant 6-1 aggregate victory over SC Heerenveen.
After claiming a 2-1 win at Heerenveen in the first leg, Twente won the second leg 4-0 on home soil, with six different players finding the back of the net across the tie.
Twente have now won each of their last six matches, scoring 21 goals (3.5 goals per game) and conceding just two while keeping four clean sheets.
Let’s not forget that Twente also possess the best defensive record in the Eredivisie, having conceded 27 goals in 34 regular-season matches this term.
Head-to-head: Sparta Rotterdam and FC Twente have already played out two draws this season, drawing 1-1 in Rotterdam before drawing 3-3 at Twente.
When you look at the bigger picture, Sparta Rotterdam have managed to win just two of their previous 11 meetings with Twente across all competitions.
Team news: Sparta Rotterdam have reported no fresh injury problems ahead of the first leg. Tobias Lauristen (15 goals, 6 assists) and Vito van Crooij (13 goals, 12 assists) are the hosts’ danger men.
FC Twente also have an injury-free squad at the moment. Vaclav Cerny (15 goals, 13 assists), Virgil Misidjan (10 goals, 6 assists) and Ricky van Wolfswinkel (9 goals, 8 assists) are their danger men.
When you couple Twente’s recent form with their recent record against Sparta Rotterdam, all the signs point towards an away win.
Forebet predicts that FC Twente will gain a first-leg advantage over Sparta Rotterdam, scoring over 1.5 goals while keeping a clean sheet.
Home team
Away team
Pred
Correct score
Avg. goals
Weather conditions
Coef.
Score
Live
coef.
Nl1
233146
2
0 - 2
2.34
23°
2.00
3.50
3.60
2.00
no
no
no
1 - 1(0 - 0)
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