VENLO VS TWENTE PREVIEW & PREDICTION
FC Twente said goodbye to Gertjan Verbeek this week and will now have to do everything to leave the last place. The away match against VVV-Venlo offers the Tukkers a chance to book a result.
VVV Venlo:
VVV-Venlo collected more points than expected before the winter break and that is why the ticket for the next season seems to have already arrived. The men of trainer Maurice Steijn even squabbled against the places that give the right to the playoffs, but the last few weeks it became clear that that is too high. The Limburgers are currently running stiff and therefore dropped to the twelfth place. However, this is not a reason for panic. The gap with number sixteen Sparta Rotterdam is twelve points and that should be enough to stay out of trouble. The fact is that VVV runs very moderately. Steijn’s formation won Feyenoord 1-0 at the start of February, but afterwards the VVV no longer managed to win a match. This resulted in a series of seven matches without a win. The match against FC Twente seems ideal in advance to restore self-confidence, but then progress will have to be made.
Incidentally, those results of the last weeks were not very bad. For example, VVV succeeded in preventing a defeat against opponents considered as AZ Alkmaar and Vitesse. The last two games for the international weekend yielded two defeats. In Venlo, Excelsior won 2-3, and a week later it was PSV’s turn to treat VVV on a defeat. The Venlo players initially played well in Eindhoven, but the red card of Ralf Seuntjens threw a spanner after the break. This offered PSV the opportunity to take the full booty: 3-0.
At VVV Lennart Thy is just back in the base this week. The much-discussed German attacker missed the encounter with PSV because of a stem cell donation, but against FC Twente he is back again. That’s good for VVV since Seuntjens is suspended this week. Tristan Dekker and Damian van Bruggen are available again after a short injury period, but they are expected on the bench.
FC Twente:
That FC Twente is busy with a tumultuous season can rightly be called an understatement. At the administrative level, it has been rumbling for a while in Enschede, and this year, the results are simply bad. René Hake was quickly fired by the disappointing results and with Gertjan Verbeek the Tukkers seemed to have the dream candidate in the house. Verbeek did not get the case on track and that resulted in his resignation last week. On the shoulders of Marino Pusic is now the heavy task of keeping FC Twente in the Eredivisie. The assistant coach has been affiliated with FC Twente since 2015 and he will have to convert the lack of form into a positive mindset and the corresponding results in one way or another. This will be anything but an easy mission. FC Twente has not won twelve matches in a row (six defeats and six draws) and that adds to the pressure with the week. FC Twente has indeed dropped to the eighteenth place and faces a gap of a point with Roda JC. The gap with the safe fifteenth position has even risen to eight points.
For the international matches, FC Twente once again failed to win. The derby against Heracles Almelo was lost 2-1 and a week later, a new defeat was almost prevented against Willem II. Kostas Tsimikas and Fran Sol had put the Tilburgers in Enschede on a 1-2 lead and that also seemed to be the final score. Peet Been eventually prevented the loss by scoring in the 87th minute. FC Twente did not make much of the point, but at the moment everything has been taken for the Tukkers. The team of Pusic is now preparing to meet with VVV-Venlo, an opponent whose earlier 1-2 was lost earlier this season.
Pusic got to deal with a hefty setback this week. Haris Vuckic seemed to be on the way back from a knee injury, but new research showed that the midfielder still has to undergo surgery so that he will be out of circulation for at least half a year. Furthermore, Thomas Lam is also on the side this week. The Finn collected his tenth yellow card of the season in the last game against Willem II.
PREDICTION: Over 2.5 goals @ 1.91
