Following the conclusion of the final international break of the 2022-23 season, the Eredivisie resumes on Saturday afternoon when AZ Alkmaar welcome Heerenveen to the AFAS Stadion.
The hosts will be looking to bounce back having seen their five-game winning streak nipped in the bud last time out, while the away side go in search of back-to-back victories for the first time this year.
Match preview
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AZ Alkmaar suffered a first defeat in just over one month as they were narrowly beaten 2-1 by FC Twente in the teams' encounter at De Grolsch Veste on March 19.
A quickfire double from Manfred Ugalde saw Pascal Jansen's men head into the interval with a mountain to climb after which Jesper Karlsson pulled one back midway through the second half.
Consequently, the Cheeseheads have dropped down to fourth in the Eredivisie table, eight points adrift of division leaders Feyenoord heading into the final stretch of the campaign.
Next up is the challenge of an opposing outfit who will be looking to turn their fortunes around in the fixture having lost all but one of the last eight editions dating back to 2020.
Currently on a run of four straight wins on home turf by a combined score of 10-2, Saturday's hosts will fancy themselves to get the job done in front of their fans once again.
Heerenveen snapped a run of five consecutive home defeats courtesy of a 1-1 friendly draw against Vitesse at the Abe Lenstra last Wednesday.
Off the back of a drab opening half, Kees van Wonderen's men broke the deadlock in the 70th minute through Antoine Colassin before they were pegged back in the penultimate minute of normal time by Bartosz Bialek's equaliser.
Prior to that, De Superfriezen claimed a comprehensive 3-0 victory over Groningen, which saw them move up to ninth place in the standings, just five points adrift of the last continental playoff spot.
Unbeaten in four matches on the road across all competitions leading up to this weekend's contest, Saturday's visitors have turned their away fortunes around, conceding the joint second-fewest goals on enemy territory this term.
Team News
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Riechedly Bazoer and Sem Westerveld are ruled out of contention for AZ Alkmaar through knee injuries, but the latter is closing in on a return to action.
Dani de Wit also misses out with a leg injury, and he is joined on the sidelines by Bruno Martins Indi, who has not played since September due to a damaged a hip bone.
Jesper Karlsson continued his goalscoring streak on international duty with Sweden where he scored for the fourth game running, making him one to keep an eye on here.
Andries Noppert remains unavailable for selection, having missed 11 matches on the bounce with a hip injury, while Sven van Beek is currently nursing a torn Achilles.
Heerenveen will also have to make do with the absence of Joost van Aken after the 28-year-old defender recently picked up a knee injury in training.
With four goals in his last four games for the away side, Sydney van Hooijdonk has come to the fore of late and will seek to deliver the goods in this one.
AZ Alkmaar possible starting lineup:
Ryan; Kerkez, Chatzidiakos, Goes, Sugawara; Clasie, Reijnders; Karlsson, Mijnans, Odgaard; Pavlidis
Heerenveen possible starting lineup:
Mous; Kohlert, Bochniewicz, Van Ottele, Van Ewijk; Tahiri, Haye; Sahraoui, Van Amersfoort, Nunnely; Van Hooijdonk
We say: AZ Alkmaar 3-1 Heerenveen
AZ and Heerenveen have had little problem finding the back of the net in recent weeks and we expect both teams to register at least once here. That said, AZ boast more quality all over the pitch and we are backing them to emerge triumphant in the end.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
