🏏 Sun, 16 Aug 2026 14:30 CEST
FC Twente
vs
PEC Zwolle
4-2-3-1 vs 4-2-3-1
Substitutes
Substitutes
Match Preview
- Two sides still without a point meet after opening-day defeats. Twente lost 1-0 away at Heerenveen and PEC Zwolle were beaten 2-0 at home by Ajax, leaving them 13th and 14th respectively. With AZ Alkmaar already six points clear at the top from two matches, both teams badly need a first win of the campaign to change the mood.
- The central duel pits 197cm Wout Weghorst against PEC's centre-backs. The 34-year-old Netherlands international scored 70 goals in 144 matches for Wolfsburg and also featured for Manchester United and Beşiktaş. Waiting for him are 191cm Dane S. Graves, who arrived via Palermo and Randers FC, and 37-year-old Nick Viergever, a former Ajax and PSV defender with three senior caps.
- The attacking trio behind Weghorst is full of character. Sondre Ørjasæter is a Norway U21 inverted winger signed from Sarpsborg 08, while academy graduate Daan Rots is a left-footer whose trademark is cutting inside to shoot. Alongside them is Croatia international Marko Pjaca, a former Juventus and Fiorentina player who was part of the 2018 World Cup runners-up squad.
- Midfield control could decide the afternoon. Twente pair Algeria international Ramiz Zerrouki, who has made 108 appearances for the club and returned on loan in 2025 after joining Feyenoord in 2023, with Dauda Weidmann, a PSG academy product who passed through Torino and RKC Waalwijk. PEC answer with 31-year-old New Zealand international R. Thomas and 186cm Dane Tobias Sørensen.
- Twente's bench holds two reunions with the visitors. Thomas van den Belt came through PEC Zwolle's academy before joining Feyenoord and impressing on loan at Spanish second-tier Castellón with six goals in 40 games, then signing a four-year deal at Twente in 2025. Younes Taha, a left-footed right winger, scored 14 goals in 31 starts for PEC in the Eerste Divisie.
- PEC build their attack around K. Kostons. Born in Genk, the 186cm striker scored 32 goals in 157 matches for MVV Maastricht and struck 11 times in 16 games for Dalkurd in Sweden, later sampling 2. Bundesliga football at Paderborn, and is now the club's leading scorer. Behind him are Groningen loanee T. Oosting, 189cm Dane Elias Sørensen and Belgian Dylan Mbayo.
- Twente's back line mixes experience with youth. In the middle, 32-year-old Robin Pröpper — a 190cm former club captain who has also played for Heracles and Rangers — lines up next to 18-year-old academy graduate Ruud Nijstad, born in 2008. The flanks are covered by Danish left-back Aske Adelgaard, a former Go Ahead Eagles and Odense player, and 174cm Bart van Rooij, a tireless runner developed at NEC.
- The goalkeeping contrast is stark. Twente rely on imposing 198cm, 103kg German Lars Unnerstall, first choice since 2021, while PEC field academy product J. Schendelaar, valued for his reflexes and involvement in build-up. Twente can even call on 42-year-old R. Pasveer, a title winner with PSV and a Champions League performer with Ajax, plus 192cm Joël Drommel, back at the club from PSV.
- Substitutions could swing it late on. Twente hold back 189cm Sam Lammers, formerly of Atalanta and Rangers, Ajax-schooled Iceland international Kristian Hlynsson, and Türkiye international N. Ünüvar, who made his Ajax debut at 16. PEC counter with Ibrahim Cissoko, who has played for Toulouse and NEC Nijmegen, and Utrecht-developed attacking midfielder O. Velanas.