AZ Alkmaar and PEC Zwolle kick off their second half of the 2023-24 Eredivisie season with a meeting at the AFAS Stadion on Saturday evening.
Neither team was able to come away with maximum points from their last league outings, and they will both be keen to return to winning ways here.
Match preview
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AZ Alkmaar suffered an agonising 2-1 defeat against FC Twente in their first competitive outing of the new year on Saturday at De Grolsch Veste on Saturday.
Pascal Jansen's men got their noses in front after just four minutes through Jens Odgaard before goals in both halves from Manfred Ugalde turned the game on its head.
This was followed by a penalty-shootout victory over lower league side Quick Boys on Tuesday, which saw the Cheeseheads progress into the last eight of the KNVB-Beker.
Up next is the challenge of an opposing outfit who have managed just two victories from the last 18 editions of this fixture dating back to 2016.
Currently with the fourth-best home record in the division this term, AZ will back themselves to secure another positive result in front of their fans.
PEC Zwolle had to make do with a point from their encounter against Heerenveen, which ended in a 2-2 stalemate at the MAC3PARK Stadion on Saturday.
After going behind to Anas Tahiri's opener, Johnny Jansen's men hit back through goals from Younes Namli and Lennart Thy before Che Nunnely grabbed a last-gasp equaliser.
With 19 points picked up from 17 league matches so far, the Blauwvingers sit 10th in the Eredivisie table, three points adrift of the last European spot.
Having found the back of the net seven times across their last two away involvements, Saturday's visitors will be looking to put on another attacking masterclass on their travels.
Team News
Matthew Ryan and Yukinari Sugawara are on international duty with Australia and Japan respectively at the ongoing Asian Cup, ruling them out of contention for AZ.
Sven Mijnans and Sam Westerveld also miss out for the hosts through knee injuries, while Hobie Verhulst continues to nurse a shoulder problem.
Zwolle's Samir Lagsir remains without an appearance this season due to a knee injury and the midfielder is still a considerable way off returning to full fitness.
Twenty-nine-year-old Younes Namli has been directly involved in five goals in his last four outings, making him one to keep an eye on for the away side.
AZ Alkmaar possible starting lineup:
Owusu-Oduro; Dekker, Martins Indi, Bazoer, Kasius; Clasie, Dantas; Lahdo, De Wit, Van Bommel; Pavlidis
PEC Zwolle possible starting lineup:
Schendelaar; Van der Haar, Lam, Kersten, Van Polen; Namli, El Azzouzi, Van den Berg, Velanas; Thy, Druijf
We say: AZ Alkmaar 3-1 PEC Zwolle
Goals have been a constant feature of this fixture, and we expect Saturday's encounter to follow suit. That said, AZ are huge favourites to come out on top, and we fully back the home side to live up to expectations and run out comfortable winners in the end.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Adepoju Marvellous
