FC Twente and Pafos FC meet in matchday three of the UEFA Conference League league phase at De Grolsch Veste in Enschede on Thursday and the home team looks to make it three wins from three.

The Tukkers have won both of their matches and sit fifth with six points, while the Paphites are 27th with one point after a 3-1 defeat at Atalanta and a 1-1 home draw with Riga FC.

Match preview

John van den Brom's side have started their league-phase campaign with a 1-0 home win over Thun and a 4-1 victory at Lincoln Red Imps, their first two successive wins in a major European campaign since 2001-02.

Ramiz Zerrouki scored the only goal against Thun five minutes after the Swiss champions were reduced to 10 men by a debatable red card, and Thomas van den Belt then scored twice in Gibraltar, where Wout Weghorst and Daouda Weidmann also found the net.

The Tukkers followed that by beating AZ 2-0 in Alkmaar on October 25, with Sondre Orjasaeter scoring in the 84th minute and substitute Lucas Vennegoor of Hesselink adding his first Eredivisie goal in stoppage time.

Sunday’s 9-0 win at Excelsior was the biggest in the club’s Eredivisie history, with Weghorst scoring four times for the first time in his career and Orjasaeter becoming the first player to register five assists in an Eredivisie match since the statistic has been recorded.

The scoreline needs context, because Excelsior played 85 minutes with 10 men after Nesto Groen was sent off in the sixth minute for a high challenge on Robin Propper.

The wins at Lincoln, AZ and Excelsior came by a combined 15-1 and followed a 2-1 home defeat by Utrecht on October 18, which remains the Tukkers’ most recent loss in any competition.

Weghorst joined on a free transfer from Ajax in June, reuniting with technical director Erik ten Hag, and after a stuttering start that drew jeers from home supporters he has become the focal point, although a hamstring problem picked up at AZ meant he was taken off after 62 minutes at Excelsior.

Pafos are in the main draw of a European competition for a third consecutive season, having reached the Conference League last 16 in 2024-25 and the Champions League league phase in 2025-26.

This season they beat Hajduk Split 4-2 on aggregate in Europa League qualifying and then lost a third-round tie to Salzburg 4-3 on aggregate, after a 1-0 defeat in Austria and a 3-3 home draw in which they led 2-0 at half-time and conceded three after the break.

They then went through against Dinamo City of Albania 5-3 on aggregate in the Conference League play-off round, drawing 1-1 away and winning 4-2 at home on August 27.

In the league phase, Atalanta led 3-0 at half-time through Elmas, Raspadori and Scamacca on the way to a 3-1 win on October 15, and Biel’s 76th-minute left-footed finish earned a 1-1 draw with Riga FC on October 22 after Caio Ferreira had given the visitors the lead in the 67th minute.

Pafos have conceded in each of their last six European matches, 11 goals in total, a run that includes three against Atalanta and three in the second half of the return leg against Salzburg.

Pafos drew 2-2 at Apollon Limassol on October 31, with Lele giving them the lead after half an hour and substitute Anderson Silva equalising late, which left them winless in four matches in all competitions after the Atalanta defeat and goalless and 1-1 draws with APOEL Nicosia and Riga.

Director Haris Theocharous told Cypriot outlet Goal that the club is not scoring from any area of the pitch and wants a restart, although he said head coach Ricardo Sa Pinto’s position is not under pressure.

Sa Pinto, who succeeded Albert Celades, leads a squad that finished fourth in the Cypriot First Division last season on 62 points and won the Cypriot Cup, with Anderson Silva scoring 14 goals in all competitions and Joao Correia 10 in the league.

FC Twente Conference League form:

FC Twente form (all competitions):

Pafos FC Conference League form:

Pafos FC form (all competitions):

Team News

Twente are without goalkeeper Lars Unnerstall, defenders Max Bruns and Stav Lemkin, and winger Filip Thorvaldsen, who has a knee injury, and none of the four is expected back before the international break.

Ruud Nijstad and Propper have formed the centre-back pairing in the absence of Bruns and Lemkin, with 18-year-old Jip Meilink making his debut at Lincoln, while Joel Drommel has kept goal in the league phase.

Weidmann served his Eredivisie suspension at Excelsior after a second yellow card at AZ and is expected to be available again, although Van den Belt, who has three goals across the Lincoln and Excelsior games, has done enough to keep his place.

Weghorst and Orjasaeter were both taken off after roughly an hour at Excelsior as part of a plan agreed at half-time, and with Ajax visiting Enschede on Sunday, Van den Brom may manage their minutes again.

Pafos have a long injury list, with goalkeeper Jay Gorter and forward Jaja out long term, David Goldar, Nicolas Ngamaleu and Pepe among those who have missed recent weeks, and Jonatas Noro ruled out in late October.

David Luiz and Biel were reported to have fitness complaints last weekend, but Luiz returned to the starting lineup at Apollon Limassol and Radoslaw Majecki has kept goal in Gorter’s absence, so Sa Pinto is expected to start from the lineup that faced Riga.

Silva came off the bench at Apollon Limassol after starting against Riga, which suggests Sa Pinto may rotate his attack again, with Lele pushing for a place after his goal.

FC Twente possible starting lineup:

Drommel; Van Rooij, Propper, Nijstad, Adelgaard; Zerrouki, Taha, Van den Belt; Rots, Orjasaeter, Weghorst

Pafos FC possible starting lineup:

Majecki; Bruno, Mmaee, Luiz, Ioannou; Guga, Dragomir, Brito; Correia, Biel, Anderson Silva

We say: FC Twente 3-1 Pafos FC

Pafos have conceded in each of their last six European matches, including falling 3-0 behind at half-time against Atalanta and surrendering a 2-0 lead against Salzburg, which represents a worrying defensive record ahead of facing a Twente side that have scored 15 goals across their last three away matches.

However, Twente benefited from playing against 10 men for long spells in their matches against Thun and Excelsior, while they are also without four injured players, and with Pafos scoring in five of their last six European fixtures, the hosts are backed to find the net, although a heavy defeat remains difficult to rule out.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.