Nijmegen vs AZ Alkmaar prediction: NETHERLANDS: Eredivisie betting tips on match 2024-04-27 10:15.
[p]NEC Nijmegen should not have spent too long this week mourning their lost KNVB Cup final against Feyenoord last weekend (1-0), because they can still enter European football in the coming weeks through the Eredivisie. Feyenoord’s Cup win means fifth place will now be good enough for a ticket to the preliminary rounds of the Europa League, whilst it seems impossible that they could fall low enough to miss the postseason European playoffs (sixth to ninth).[/p]
[p]Head coach Rogier Meijer has recently seen a lot of players return to his squad, such as  Dirk Proper and Lasse Schöne, but Bart van Rooij was injured again in De Kuip during his comeback and seems to be sidelined for a while again. NEC would think back to their previous meeting with next opponent AZ Alkmaar with mixed feelings. Although the game in Alkmaar was won, it was also the game in which Bas Dost wore the Nijmegen tricolours for the last time because of his accident.[/p]
[p]It looked as though AZ would lose in this competition for a third consecutive time in the previous round, but the 2-0 deficit against RKC was turned into a 3-2 win in the last half hour, resulting in them occupying fourth place. That doesn’t appear to be in danger for the time being. Once again, it was Vangelis Pavlidis who gave his team the lead as he continued his battle for the league’s Golden Boot with his 26th strike.[/p]
[p]AZ are already looking for a replacement for the highly sought after centre forward and Troy Parrott, who is currently being loaned to Excelsior from Tottenham, is one name frequently linked with the club. Pavlidis’ successor will most likely immediately play European football, with fourth place guaranteeing a spot in the group stage of the next UEFA Europa League.[/p]
[p]Players to watch: Koki Ogawa has scored four goals in his last eight games for NEC. AZ player Yukinari Sugawara, also a senior team international for Japan, was involved in six goals in his last seven matches in the Eredivisie (G4, A2).[/p]
[p]Hot streak: NEC Nijmegen scored in all eighteen home matches this season, but AZ Alkmaar were the last team to shut them out – on the final matchday of last season.[/p]