Almere City Vs FC Twenty: Derby Garuda In Eredivisie When Haye Meets Hilgers
Almere City will try to get their first win in the 2024-25 league when they host FC Twenty at Yanmar Stadium on Sunday 22 September. In this match, two Indonesian national team players, Thom Haye from Almere and Mess Hilgers from Twenty, are expected to fight, adding to the feel of the Garuda Derby in this match.
Almere City, which is a promotional team, failed to maintain good form last season and is now stuck in the lower zone of the standings. Under the direction of new coach Hedwiges Maduro, they had a bad start, losing their first three games 11-1 on aggregate. However, they managed to get two draws against Groningen and Heracles, and recorded the last clean sheet against Heracles.
Goalkeeper Nordin Bakker has recently managed to record his first cleansheet since February, showing the need for an upgrade in the back line. Striker Thomas Robinet, who was the team's top scorer last season with 11 goals, is still looking for his first goal of the season after four appearances.
On the other hand, FC Twenty, which has just ended a long wait to compete at the top level, now wants to revive their performance after being knocked out of the Champions League competition. They have only lost once to five league games, but that achievement feels less than satisfactory after failing in European qualifiers. However, they managed to win 2-0 over Heerenveen in the last match.
In this match, Almere City will try to improve their defense and score their first goal, while FC Twenty hopes to return to winning ways and make achievements at Eredivisie.
Almere City may have to face this game without injury defender James Lawrence. If he is absent, Ricardo Visus is likely to look for a new partner on the back, with Joey Jacobs being the main candidate. Almere will also probably rotate up front, with Ruben totaling and Logan Delaurier-Chaubet ready to perform from the start.
FC Twenty will not be strengthened by the injured Michal Sadilek, and Younes Taha who suffered a broken leg. Nonetheless, they have a squad strong enough to challenge Almere and hope to continue the positive momentum ahead of the game in the Europa League against Manchester United.
Almere City (4-2-3-1):Bakker; Akujobi, Visus, Lawrence, Zagaritis; Tahiri, De Kamp; Hansen, Robinet, Delaurier-Chaubet; Guillaume
FC Twenty (4-2-3-1):Unnerstall; Van Rooij, Hilgers, Bruns, Salah-Eddine; Eiding, Regger; Rots, Steijn, Van Bergen; Lammers