AZ are set to welcome Vitesse on Wednesday afternoon, after taking part in an eight-goal thriller against Willem II at the weekend, winning 5-3 against their latest opponents.
Meanwhile, Vitesse will be in high spirits following their crucial 1-0 victory against Feyenoord on Sunday, with Thomas Letsch's men continuing their superb form this campaign.
Match preview
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AZ registered their sixth win of the season during their latest league fixture, coming from behind to secure an important victory against Willem.
During the game, Willem started brightly - with Zakaria Aboukhlal scoring an own goal in the 22nd minute, before Mike Tresor Ndayishimiye converted a penalty 15 minutes later. However, further goals from Teun Koopmeiners, Calvin Stengs, Fredrik Midtsjo and Jesper Karlsson meant AZ came out as the winners.
Interim manager Pascal Jansen has now picked up his second win since taking over the club earlier this month, following the shock dismissal of former coach Arne Slot.
However, the Dutchman was unable to take his side to the next stage of the Europa League, with the team failing to make it to the knockout stages of the competition following their disappointing 2-1 defeat against Rijeka on matchday six.
Nevertheless, he will need to focus his attention back to the Eredivisie on Wednesday, with the hosts currently sitting in seventh place in the table, having suffered just one defeat during the 2020-21 season.
On the other hand, Vitesse will be pleased about their start to the term - securing nine wins in their opening 13 matches as they currently occupy third place.
As previously mentioned, their latest league result witnessed a narrow win against Feyenoord, with Oussama Darfalou scoring the only goal of the game.
It is worth noting that Vitesse have only lost twice this season, with their most recent defeat coming earlier this month as PEC Zwolle managed a 2-1 victory.
However, they are just one point behind PSV Eindhoven in the table, and a win in midweek could see them leapfrog Roger Schmidt's side into second place.
The last time these two teams met was back in September 2019, when Vitesse secured a 2-1 win against their opponents, featuring a late winner by Matus Bero.
AZ Eredivisie form: WWLWWW
AZ form (all competitions): WWLLDW
Vitesse Eredivisie form: WDLWDW
Vitesse form (all competitions): WWDLWD
Team News
AZ have a few injury concerns heading into this match, with Dani de Wit, Bruno Martins Indi and Jonas Svensson all set to miss Wednesday's fixture.
Jordy Clasie and Ron Vlaar also remain doubtful, leaving new coach Jansen with limited options for the midweek clash.
As for Vitesse, supporters will be pleased to know that they have no injury troubles or suspensions for the upcoming game.
Letsch is likely to field the same side that claimed an impressive victory against Feyenoord last weekend, opting for his preferred 5-3-2 formation.
AZ possible starting lineup:
Bizot; Sugawara, Hatzidiakos, Letschert, Wijndal; Midtsjo, Stengs, Koopmeiners; Aboukhal, Boadu, Karlsson
Vitesse possible starting lineup:
Pasveer; Dasa, Doekhi, Bazoer, Rasmussen, Wittek; Bero, Tannane, Tronstad; Darfalou, Openda
We say: AZ 1-2 Vitesse
This is expected to be a close game, with the two teams currently separated by just six points in the table. However, Vitesse should have enough quality to pick up a narrow victory on Wednesday, and Letsch will be keen to continue their impressive 2020-21 campaign.
Top betting 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 win with a probability of 48.61%. A win for Vitesse had a probability of 27.32% and a draw had a probability of 24.1%.
The most likely scoreline for an AZ win was 2-1 with a probability of 9.51%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-0 (9.4%) and 2-0 (7.91%). The likeliest Vitesse win was 1-2 (6.79%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (11.3%). The actual scoreline of 3-1 was predicted with a 5.3% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that AZ would win this match.
