Seeking to avoid a fourth defeat on the trot, an out of sorts AZ Alkmaar welcome newly-promoted Go Ahead Eagles to the AFAS Stadion on Sunday.
Meanwhile, the away side have lost each of their two outings away from home and will be looking to put an end to that run at the third time of asking.
Match preview
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AZ Alkmaar fell to a second consecutive away defeat on Thursday following a 3-1 loss to Twente when the teams went toe to toe at the Grolsch Veste Stadium.
Ricky van Wolfswinkel, Daan Rots, Dimitris Limnios were all on the scoresheet for the Tukkers in a game where Pascal Jansen's men registered through Jesper Karlsson.
Having picked up three points from the opening five matches, the Cheeseheads are bottom but one as things stand, two points clear of PEC Zwolle with a game in hand.
Their next assignment sees them go up against an opposing side who they have beaten in four of the last six meetings between the teams dating back to 2013.
One of four teams without a home victory this term, Sunday's hosts will be keen to get going in front of their fans and breathe life into their domestic campaign.
Go Ahead Eagles pushed PSV Eindhoven all the way on Wednesday but ultimately succumbed to a 2-1 defeat at the sound of the final whistle in Deventer.
Inigo Cordoba scored in the 55th minute to cancel out Cody Gakpo's first-half opener, before Marco Van Ginkel put Kees Van Wonderen's men to the sword with an 86th-minute winner.
The pride of the IJssel Kowet have slipped into the bottom half of the table having lost two of their last outings and four of six overall this term.
With games against RKC Waalwijk and Heracles to follow, Sunday's visitors have an opportunity to pull further clear of danger as they aim to enjoy a fruitful campaign back in the top tier.
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Team News
Scottish midfielder Frank Ross still awaits his first appearance this term due to a knee injury which he picked up in a KNVB-Beker tie versus VVV-Venlo back in January.
Thirty-seven-year-old forward Jacob Mulenga is currently sidelined with a muscle injury and is set to sit out a second game on the bounce.
AZ Alkmaar's Jordy Clasie will serve the second of his three-game suspension for picking up a red card versus Heracles on September 19.
Timo Letschert is a doubt for this weekend's game after he was hauled off with an injury 23 minutes into his side's last involvement in midweek.
AZ Alkmaar possible starting lineup:
Jensen; Wijndal, Martins Indi, Chatzidiakos, Sugawara; Midtsjo, Reijnders, De Wit; Karlsson, Pavlidis, Gudmundsson
Go Ahead Eagles possible starting lineup:
Hahn; Kuipers, Kramer, Nauber, Lucassen; Brouwers, Botos, Rommens; Cordoba, Oratmangoen, Cardona
We say: AZ Alkmaar 2-1 Go Ahead Eagles
Despite all their struggles in the early part of the season, AZ are still a more than capable side on their day and are favourites to triumph in this one. While we expect the away side to give a good account of themselves, we are tipping the hosts to carry the day.
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 55.44%. A win for Go Ahead Eagles had a probability of 22.31% and a draw had a probability of 22.2%.
The most likely scoreline for an AZ Alkmaar win was 2-1 with a probability of 9.86%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-0 (9.14%) and 2-0 (8.71%). The likeliest Go Ahead Eagles win was 1-2 (5.85%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (10.34%). The actual scoreline of 5-0 was predicted with a 1% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that AZ Alkmaar would win this match.
