Winless in their last nine matches, FC Volendam welcome AZ Alkmaar to the Kras Stadion on Sunday in round 26 of the 2023-24 Eredivisie season.
Meanwhile, the away side head into this weekend's encounter unbeaten in five straight matches and in search of a league double over their hosts, having claimed a 3-0 win in the reverse fixture.
Match preview
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AZ Alkmaar made it three wins from four matches as they cruised to a comfortable 4-0 victory against SBV Excelsior at the AFAS Stadion on Sunday.
Maarten Martens's men went into the half-time break with a commanding three-goal lead thanks to strikes from Dani de Wit, Vangelis Pavlidis and Sven Mijnans before rounded off the scoring 18 minutes from time.
As a result, the Cheeseheads have moved six points clear of Ajax in the race for the final guaranteed European spot and remain fourth in the Eredivisie table.
Coming up next is the challenge of an opposing outfit who are without a win from the 10 previous editions of this fixture across all competitions.
Having come out on top in just one of their last seven away matches, Sunday's visitors will be keen to get themselves going on enemy territory.
Volendam snapped a two-game losing streak with a 1-1 stalemate against PEC Zwolle when the sides faced off at the MAC3PARK Stadion on Sunday.
Regillio Simons's men trailed to Dave Van den Berg's opener 10 minutes into the second half but managed to restore parity through Damon Mirani.
With 14 points picked up from 25 league matches so far, Het Andere Oranje sit rock bottom of the standings, seven points adrift of safety.
Off the back of 14 goals conceded from their most recent three home involvements, Sunday's hosts will be wary of another defensive collapse in front of their fans.
Team News
Volendam's Joey Antonioli remains out of contention due to a knee problem, while midfielder Calvin Twigt continues to battle with a damaged foot.
Diego Gustavo and Luke Le Roux are also unavailable for the home side through injury, and they are joined on the sidelines by Xavier Mbuyamba.
Twenty-one-year-old Sem Westerveld is still sidelined with a long-term knee injury, which has seen the Dutchman fail to make an appearance in over six months.
Denso Kasius and Mayckel Lahdo also miss out for the away side through injury, but the latter is drawing increasingly closer to a return to action.
FC Volendam possible starting lineup:
Backhaus; Plat, Flint, Mirani, Payne; Benamar, Maulun, De Haan; Booth, Ould-Chikh, Semedo
AZ Alkmaar possible starting lineup:
Ryan; Sugawara, Goes, Bazoer, Wolfe; Belic, Dantas; Mijnans, De Wit, Van Bommel; Pavlidis
We say: FC Volendam 1-3 AZ Alkmaar
AZ boast more quality players all over the pitch and will fancy themselves to get the job done. We fully expect the away side to cruise to a relatively routine win in the end.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Adepoju Marvellous
