Round 26 of the 2022-23 Eredivisie season concludes with a meeting between two of the top five as FC Twente and AZ Alkmaar lock horns at De Grolsch Veste on Sunday.
The home side will go in search of back to back victories having returned to winning ways last time out, while the visitors seek to record a sixth triumph in a row.
Match preview
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AZ Alkmaar secured safe passage into the quarter-final of the sophomore UEFA Europa Conference League tournament thanks to a 2-1 victory over Lazio at the AFAS Stadion on Thursday.
Off the back of a 2-1 first-leg advantage, Pascal Jansen's men showed great resolve to recover from Felipe Anderson's opener and hit back through goals from Jesper Karlsson and Vangelis Pavlidis.
Prior to that, the Cheeseheads saw off the threat of Groningen in a narrow 1-0 victory and remain third in the Eredivisie table, five points behind league leaders Feyenoord.
Awaiting them next is the task of facing off against an opposing outfit with little to choose between the teams, as the last seven encounters have yielded three wins apiece and a draw.
Currently on a run of eight victories from their most recent 10 away outings, Sunday's visitors will be confident of getting the job done on enemy territory once again.
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Twente snapped a run of three matches without a win by comprehensively beating Fortuna Sittard 3-0 at the Fortuna Sittard Stadion on Saturday evening.
Following a drab opening 45 minutes, Vaclav Cerny broke the deadlock for Ron Jans's men midway through the second half before quickfire goals from Manfred Ugalde sealed the deal.
As a result, the Tukkers remain fifth in the league standings with 44 points amassed so far, nine behind this weekend's opponents in the race for the final automatic European spot.
Unbeaten in all but one of their last 22 home involvements across all competitions, Sunday's hosts have established themselves as a real force to reckon with in front of their fans.
Team News
Riechedly Bazoer and Sem Westerveld are currently battling with knee injuries, and neither will play any part for AZ Alkmaar in this weekend's clash.
Dani de Wit is also a guaranteed absentee due to a leg injury, while Bruno Martins Indi remains without an appearance since September through a hip problem.
Jesper Karlsson has been directly involved in 10 goals in his last eight appearances for the visitors, making him one to keep an eye on here.
Thirty-six-year-old Wout Brama misses out for Twente through an ankle problem, as Mathias Kjolo still awaits his return to action from a broken jawbone.
Michal Sadilek continues to nurse a muscle problem, and the Czech Republic international is joined on the sidelines by Dutch duo Denilho Cleonise and Daan Rots.
FC Twente possible starting lineup:
Unnerstall; Smal, Propper, Hilgers, Sampsted; Zerrouki; Salah-Eddine, Vlap, Steijn, Cerny; Ugalde
AZ Alkmaar possible starting lineup:
Ryan; De Jong, Goes, Hatzidiakos, Kerkez; Reijnders, Clasie; Odgaard, Mijnans, Karlsson; Pavlidis
We say: FC Twente 2-2 AZ Alkmaar
AZ head into the clash on a better run of results but Twente have repeatedly shown how tough to beat they are on home turf. We expect a highly-entertaining affair here with goals at both ends and honours even come the end of the 90 minutes.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Adepoju Marvellous
