FC Utrecht and AZ Alkmaar draw the curtain on matchday 14 of the 2023-24 Eredivisie season with a meeting at Stadion Galgenwaard on Sunday evening.
Both teams are on a two-game winning streak coming into this weekend's affair, which has all the makings of an open and end-to-end contest.
Match preview
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AZ Alkmaar just about saw off the threat of Bosnian side Zrinjski in Thursday's Conference League group meeting, which ended 1-0 at the AFAS Stadion.
Pascal Jansen's men opened the scoring just shy of the hour mark through Vangelis Pavlidis, and that was enough to get the job done in a cagey clash.
Prior to that, the Cheeseheads claimed a 3-0 league triumph over FC Volendam and have moved up to third place in the Eredivisie table, albeit still a whopping 10 points off top spot.
Awaiting them next is the challenge of an opposing outfit who have come out on top in just one of the last five editions of this fixture across all competitions.
However, that solitary win did come in the most recent encounter back in February when Sunday's visitors fell to a 2-1 defeat in the KNVB-Beker round of 16.
Utrecht ended a three-game league winless by claiming a 2-1 win over Sparta Rotterdam at the Sparta Stadion Het Kasteel on Sunday evening.
Ron Jans's men broke the deadlock early on through Mats Seuntjens but were pegged back by Camiel Neghli just shy of half time after which Isac Lidberg grabbed the winner in the opening exchanges of the second half.
With 12 points picked up from 13 league matches this term, the Domstedelingen sit 16th in the standings, level on points with RKC Waalwijk in the race to beat the drop.
Unbeaten in their last five home outings, Sunday's hosts will be confident of putting up a good fight in front of their fans this weekend.
Team News
Defender Mike van der Hoorn suffered a broken rib against Excelsior three weeks ago and will not be playing any part for Utrecht in this one.
The home side will also be without the services of Anthony Descotte and Ole ter Haar Romeny, with the former yet to feature since October.
Twenty-seven-year-old Riechedly Bazoer is a major doubt for AZ Alkmaar here after coming off with an injury scare against Zrinjski in midweek.
Dutchman Sven Mijnans missed the aforementioned game through a knee injury and is also set to sit out this weekend's game for the visitors.
FC Utrecht possible starting lineup:
Barkas; Leliendal, Sagnan, Flamingo, Ter Avest; Fraulo, Bozdogan; Seuntjens, Jensen, Azarkan; Lidberg
AZ Alkmaar possible starting lineup:
Ryan; Sugawara, Penetra, Martins Indi, Wolfe; Clasie, Mihailovic, Dantas; Poku, Pavlidis, Van Bommel
We say: FC Utrecht 1-2 AZ Alkmaar
Goals have been a real feature of this fixture, and we expect this weekend's clash to be no different. That said, we are also backing the away side to carry the day in the end.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
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