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Eredivisie | Gameweek 1
Aug 10, 2024 at 7pm UK
Yanmar Stadion
AZ Alkmaar

Almere City
0 - 1
AZ


Resink (45+4')
Guillaume (34'), Visus (79')
FT(HT: 0-1)
Sadiq (4')
Martens (19'), Zeefuik (86'), Maikuma (89')
Dekker (18')

Preview: Almere City vs. AZ Alkmaar - prediction, team news, lineups

Sports Mole previews Saturday's Eredivisie clash between Almere City and AZ Alkmaar, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.

Almere City and AZ Alkmaar get the ball rolling on their 2024-25 Eredivisie campaign with a meeting at the Yanmar Stadion on Saturday evening.

The home side did well enough to avoid relegation in their debut top-flight season last time out, while the visitors finished fourth for a second year running.


Match preview

AZ Alkmaar coach Maarten Martens on August 8, 2024© Imago

AZ Alkmaar flew out of the blocks with 26 points from the first 30 available to lay down an early marker last time out but were unable to sustain their initial momentum and ran out of steam as the season progressed.

This ultimately contributed to the dismissal of head coach Pascal Jansen midway through the campaign, with youth team manager Maarten Martens taking the reins at the AFAS Stadion.

Seeking to inspire a change in fortune, Martens endured a rough start to life as he failed to win any of his opening five games across all competitions, before managing to turn things around in the final 10 matches, picking up seven wins and a draw.

However, that could only earn the Cheeseheads a fourth-place finish behind PSV Eindhoven, Feyenoord and FC Twente in the league standings with 65 points from 34 outings.

AZ carried over their end-of-season form into their warm-up games for the new campaign, winning all but two of their seven friendly matches while also scoring a whopping 23 goals in that time.

Saturday's visitors will now go in search of a third opening-day win in a row, having beaten Go Ahead Eagles in each of the last two editions since narrowly losing 1-0 to RKC Waalwijk in August 2021.

Almere City coach Hedwiges Maduro on August 8, 2024© Imago

Almere City were unsurprisingly tipped by many to suffer relegation from the Eredivisie due to their inexperience at this level, but they defied expectations by finishing 13th, five points clear of the drop zone.

Hedwiges Maduro's men largely had their defence to thank for staying afloat of relegation danger, as their tally of 10 clean sheets was only bettered by four teams in the entire division.

This more than made up for a misfiring attacking unit, which scored the second-fewest goals with 33 strikes from 34 matches, highlighting the biggest area of concern for De Zwarte Schapen going forward.

Having lost a significant amount of players from last season's squad, Almere have had to be active in the transfer market, bringing in 10 new arrivals heading into their sophomore top-flight journey.

Saturday's hosts now prepare for the first of two daunting assignments in their opening two home games of the campaign with defending champions PSV Eindhoven scheduled to come to town next after AZ this weekend.

Almere City pre-season form:
  • L
  • L
  • L
  • W
  • W
  • W

AZ Alkmaar pre-season form:
  • W
  • W
  • W
  • D
  • D
  • W


Team News

 AZ Alkmaar players celebrating a goal on August 8, 2024© Imago

Sem Westerveld remains out of contention here, with the AZ goalkeeper still a considerable way off returning to action from a knee injury.

Twenty-one-year-old Mexx Meerdink is a major doubt for the away side, having been sidelined since mid-March with a groin problem.

New signing Troy Parrott found the back of the net in all of his pre-season outings since joining from Tottenham Hotspur and will be looking to deliver the goods once again.

Twenty-seven-year-old Thomas Robinet was responsible for a third of Almere's 33 league goals last time out, making him one to keep an eye on.

Christopher Mamengi is closing in on a return to action for the home side after missing the last four months due to a long-term knee injury.


Almere City possible starting lineup:
Bakker; Visus, Jacobs, Floranus; Balboa, Carbonell, Guillaume, Zagaritis; Mattoir, Hansen, Robinet

AZ Alkmaar possible starting lineup:
Zoet; Wolfe, Martins Indi, Goes, Maikuma; Koopmeiners, Clasie; Van Brederode, Mijnans, Sadiq; Parrott



SM words green background

We say: Almere City 1-2 AZ Alkmaar

Almere City rounded off their pre-season campaign with three straight wins, and that should inspire a level of confidence in this weekend's hosts.

That said, we are tipping AZ to come out on top from what should be an open and end-to-end affair.


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


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Game History

How you voted: Almere City vs AZ

Almere City
14.3%
Draw
2.9%
AZ Alkmaar
82.9%
35
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TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1PSV EindhovenPSV1110013792830
2Ajax108112391425
3FC UtrechtUtrecht108111911825
4Feyenoord1164124121222
5FC Twente116322291321
6AZ AlkmaarAZ1152422121017
7Fortuna SittardSittard115241213-117
8Go Ahead Eagles114341519-415
9NAC BredaNAC Breda115061218-615
10NECNijmegen114161610613
11Willem II113351111012
12Heracles113351222-1012
13Sparta RotterdamSparta112541217-511
14Heerenveen113261223-1111
15Groningen112361119-89
16PEC Zwolle112361121-109
17Almere CityAlmere City11137523-186
18RKC WaalwijkRKC Waalwijk111191028-184


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