Manchester United are set to get their 2024/25 European football campaign underway this week when they face off against FC Twente in the Europa League.
The Dutch side will be familiar foes to United boss Erik ten Hag, who he faced off against on 12 occasions while working at Ajax – winning seven of said games – and actually spent nine seasons of his professional career playing for the club too.
Ahead of Ten Hag‘s reunion with his former club, we’ve taken a look at Twente’s star players who Man Utd need to be wary of on Wednesday evening.
6 – Sem Steijn is the third player with at least six goals in his first six Eredivisie games of the season for FC Twente in the last 50 years, after Marc Janko in 2011-12 (7) and Enes Ünal in 2016-17 (6). Unleashed. pic.twitter.com/59FBEDMYb0
— OptaJohan (@OptaJohan) September 22, 2024
As the tweet above attests, Sam Steijn has enjoyed quite the start to the 2024/25 season at FC Twente.
And his six goals in six games is no fluke either – Steijn is simply picking up where he left off in 2023/24.
The 22-year-old’s exceptional tally of 17 goals and three assists from attacking midfield is the reason FC Twente qualified for the Europa League, and if he can bring his fine domestic form onto the European stage, he’ll cause United some problems on Wednesday.
Sam Lammers may be a familiar name thanks to his spell at Rangers last season…but perhaps not for the best reasons.
The striker was rather awful during his time in Scotland, scoring just two goals in 17 league appearances before being shipped out on loan to Utrecht.
However, since his return to the Netherlands, Lammers has found a new lease of life. The 27-year-old’s ten goals in 18 league appearances in the second half of the 2023/24 campaign earned him a move to FC Twente over the summer, and he’s continued his fine form at his new club too, by scoring three in six thus far.
Fun fact, Lars Unnerstall is FC Twente’s highest rated player in EA FC 25.
The 80-rated German is also the club captain, and one of the best goalkeepers in the Eredivisie right now.
And the stats back that statement up too. Per fbref, Unnerstall had the third best save % in the entire division in 2023/24, and kept the fifth most clean sheets too. Nice one.
If any of Man Utd’s scouts tuned in to get the lowdown on FC Twente over the weekend, chances are they told Erik ten Hag to pay special attention to Anass Salah-Eddine on Wednesday.
The full-back was utterly sublime in the thumping 5-0 win over Almere City, setting up one goal, scoring another and completing 92% of his passes at one end – whilst winning 100% of his tackles and recovering possession for his side on six occasions at the other.
