With an opportunity to go level on points with their hosts, Feyenoord travel to the AFAS Stadion to take on AZ Alkmaar on Sunday.
Both sides have been in good form of late as the visitors come into this one having not lost any of their last four league matches, while AZ have won each of their last three games.
Match preview
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After suffering two consecutive league defeats in the last week of January, AZ Alkmaar have responded by picking up nine points from a possible nine, scoring eight goals and conceding just two.
Pascal Jansen's men claimed a 4-1 victory versus VVV-Venlo on Saturday, putting up an impressive second-half display to ease past their opponents.
Hakon Evjen made the most of what was only his third-ever start for the club as he restored the Cheeseheads' lead 10 minutes after the restart with his first Eredivisie goal.
Sunday's hosts are now up to third on the log courtesy of that win, four points behind second-placed PSV Eindhoven, who they will face in the coming month.
In the meantime, their main task is to stay as close as possible to PSV ahead of their meeting, and a win this weekend would be a step in the right direction.
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Feyenoord were held to a 0-0 draw by Groningen in their rescheduled meeting on Wednesday at the Hitachi Capital Mobility Stadium.
The deadlock was their second in the space of three days following a 2-2 stalemate against FC Twente, where they were lucky to come away with a point.
Those dropped points have seen Dick Advocaat's men remain in fourth place, but a win on Sunday takes them level on points with AZ, and also ahead of them on goal difference.
However, De Stadionclub were beaten 3-2 in last month's reverse fixture, and they will be keen to exact revenge on AZ this time around.
AZ Alkmaar Eredivisie form: WLLWWW
Feyenoord Eredivisie form: LLWWDD
Feyenoord form (all competitions): LWWLDD
Team News
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Pantelis Hatzidiakos was suspended for his side's trip to VVV, but he is now eligible to play again, and he is expected to return to the starting XI.
Dani De Wit was given a three-minute cameo appearance last time out following his recovery from an ankle problem that kept him out for over two months.
Jordy Clasie was also fit enough for the bench, and he will be working towards regaining full fitness after missing the last month of action due to a torn muscle.
Feyenoord's Joao Teixeira has been sidelined for the past six weeks with a calf injury, but he is close to being available for selection once again.
Steven Berghuis has scored four goals in his last four games at the AFAS Stadion as a visiting player, and he will be relied upon to lead his side to victory.
AZ Alkmaar possible starting lineup:
Bizot; Wijndal, Martins Indi, Hatzidiakos, Sugawara; Stengs, Koopmeiners, Midtsjo; Karlsson, Boadu, Gudmundsson
Feyenoord possible starting lineup:
Marsman; Geertruida, Spajic, Senesi, Malacia; Toornstra, Fer, Diemers; Berghuis, Jorgensen, Linssen
We say: AZ Alkmaar 2-1 Feyenoord
Like most games between top teams, this should be an enthralling encounter with both sides going for the win. Having said that, we are backing AZ Alkmaar to record a fourth consecutive victory, and pull further away from Feyenoord on the log.
Top tip
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a AZ Alkmaar win with a probability of 43.21%. A win for Feyenoord had a probability of 33.4% and a draw had a probability of 23.4%.
The most likely scoreline for an AZ Alkmaar win was 2-1 with a probability of 8.92%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-0 (7.12%) and 2-0 (6.06%). The likeliest Feyenoord win was 1-2 (7.72%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (10.48%). The actual scoreline of 4-2 was predicted with a 1.6% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that AZ Alkmaar would win this match.
