Round 30 of the 2023-24 Eredivisie season sees AZ Alkmaar and RKC Waalwijk face off against each other at the AFAS Stadion on Saturday evening.
Both teams head into this one off the back of respective defeats last time out and will be keen to get themselves back on track with a win here.
Match preview
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AZ Alkmaar were left red-faced last time out as they fell to a 5-1 defeat against league leaders PSV Eindhoven at the Philips Stadion on Saturday.
Goals in both halves from Luuk de Jong and a Johan Bakayoko strike left Maarten Martens's men with a mountain to climb but they managed to pull one back through Vangelis Pavlidis, only for Joey Veerman and Jesper Uneken to put the result beyond doubt late on.
While The Cheeseheads remain fourth in the Eredivisie table, they have now seen their lead over NEC drop to six points in the race for the final guaranteed European spot.
Awaiting them next is the challenge of an opposing outfit who have held their own in this fixture having won three and lost three of the last six meetings.
Having won their last three home matches by a combined score of 8-0, Saturday's hosts have been in imperious form in front of their fans of late and are huge favourites to come out on top here.
Waalwijk suffered a first defeat in five outings following a narrow 3-2 loss against FC Volendam at the Kras Stadion on Sunday afternoon.
After going into the interval trailing by two thanks to a Robert Muhren double, Henk Fraser's men hit back through Reuven Niemeijer and Michiel Kramer before Darius Johnson decided the game 15 minutes from time.
With 24 points picked up from their 29 league matches this term, RKC sit 15th in the standings, just two points clear of the relegation zone.
Currently with the second-fewest goals scored away from home, Saturday's visitors will need to get going at the top end of pitch to avoid another fruitless outing on the road.
Team News
Bruno Martins Indi remains unavailable for AZ Alkmaar due to a back injury, while Lequincio Zeefuik continues his battle with a damaged ankle.
The home side will also have to make do with the absence of Kristijan Belic, who crossed the yellow-card threshold for a one-game ban last time out.
This could see Tiago Dantas get the nod to feature right from the off as the midfielder awaits a first starting appearance since early March.
RKC's Nouri El Harmazi is currently facing a lengthy spell on the sidelines due to a shoulder problem and the 21-year-old is still a considerable way off making a comeback.
Twenty-four-year-old Godfried Roemeratoe is also a guaranteed absentee for the away side this weekend as he serves a one-match suspension.
AZ Alkmaar possible starting lineup:
Ryan; Wolfe, Bazoer, Goes, Sugawara; Clasie, Dantas; Van Bommel, De Wit, Mijnans; Pavlidis
RKC Waalwijk possible starting lineup:
Vaessen; Lutonda, Van den Buijs, Gaari, Lelieveld; Oukili, Niemeijer; Lokesa, Seuntjens, Margaret; Kramer
We say: AZ Alkmaar 3-1 RKC Waalwijk
AZ are currently undergoing a rough patch but will still fancy their chances of securing maximum points from this one. We fully expect the hosts to get the job done with relative ease come the sound of the final whistle.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
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