Twente vs Besiktas prediction: EUROPE: Europa League – League phase betting tips on match 2025-01-29 20:00.
[p]The last time Twente qualified for the UEFA Europa League (UEL) knockouts was in the 2011/12 campaign and they kept hopes of ending their drought alive with a 3-2 away win over Malmö on matchday seven. That was the first win of this campaign for the 26th-placed Tukkers (D4, L2), who need another to have hopes of moving into the top-24 playoff places, the last of which is currently occupied by their opponents Beşiktaş.[/p]
[p]That comes with the added incentive of avoiding unwanted history as Twente lost their two recent home UEL games and could lose three major European home matches in a row for the first time since 1997. Those two defeats saw them fail to score and remain the only competitive losses for Joseph Oosting’s men at this venue this season (W6, D5), which includes a current three-game winning streak in Eredivisie home games.[/p]
[p]Beşiktaş gave themselves a great chance to qualify for the playoffs with a 4-1 home win over Athletic on matchday seven in manager Ole Gunnar Solskjær’s first game at the club. They followed it up with a 1-1 away draw in the Süper Lig on Sunday, extending their unbeaten run in all competitions to seven games (W3, D4). Another win here will see the Black Eagles progress from the main draw of a major UEFA competition for the first time since 2017/18.[/p]
[p]Ahead of this inaugural H2H meeting, the challenge for Solskjær is to lift their performances on the road as Beşiktaş have won just one of their last eight away games across all competitions (D4, L3). Travelling to these parts of the world hasn’t been a happy experience either, as the Turks have lost five of their six away games (W1) against Dutch sides in all competitions.[/p]
[p]Players to watch: Ricky van Wolfswinkel scored Twente’s third goal last week, and consequently his six strikes this season have all come in the second half of a victory. Rafa Silva could land the first punch for Beşiktaş’, having directly contributed to three (G1, A2) goals last matchday, whilst he delivered their opening goal with four of his last five competitive strikes.[/p]
[p]Hot stat: Beşiktaş scored exactly once in nine of their ten most recent competitive away games, including each of the last six.[/p]
[p][i]Written by Sridhar B[/i][/p]