Twente vs AZ Alkmaar prediction: NETHERLANDS: Eredivisie betting tips on match 2024-01-12 17:45.
The Eredivisie’s “match of the weekend” is without a doubt the meeting between FC Twente and AZ Alkmaar. The third and fourth placed sides of the competition are only one point apart and Feyenoord and Ajax will be rubbing their hands together in the knowledge that at least one of these sides cannot take all three points. Twente has scored one goal less and conceded five more than AZ, but still retain the superior position.
There would have undoubtedly been a lot of mixed feelings at the Christmas dinner in the Steijn household, because almost everything that son Sem touched in the first half of the season turned into gold, but that cannot be said about father Maurice. The Twente midfielder already has ten Eredivisie goals to his name and was good for five goals in the last six appearances before the winter break.
Both teams smell blood this season, because due to Ajax’s enormous dip in form and the better starting position of the Eredivisie on UEFA’s coefficient list, they can dream of their first participation in the UEFA Champions League in more than a decade. But AZ Alkmaar were completely out of form just before the winter break, with only one win in regular playing time across their last six competitive outings (D2, L3).
Despite the intense interest, a winter departure for Vangelis Pavlidis doesn’t appear an option at the moment, which is certainly a good thing for AZ. The Greek striker has already scored a staggering number of 18 competition goals, whilst the other AZ attackers have a maximum of three goals each. In any case, Pascal Jansen cannot call on Mat Ryan and Yukinari Sugawara this weekend, as they’ll be representing their countries (Australia and Japan) at the Asia Cup. The 19-year-old Rome-Jayden Owusu-Oduro will probably get the chance again.
Players to watch: Manfred Ugalde was directly involved in five goals in his last three matches (G2, A3), whilst AZ left-back David Moller Wolfe contributed to three goals (G1, A2) in his last five Eredivisie appearances.
Hot stat: FC Twente failed to keep their goal clean in the last eight matches, but AZ also failed to do so in their last six.