Preview: AZ Alkmaar vs FC Twente - prediction, team news, lineups

AZ Alkmaar host FC Twente at AFAS Stadion on Sunday in an Eredivisie Matchday 10 fixture between the division's second-placed side and the team chasing them down in fifth.

Leeroy Echteld's hosts arrive on the back of a draining week of continental travel, while John van den Brom's visitors will sense an opportunity to close the three-point gap that separates the two clubs.

Both managers have spent October juggling Eredivisie business with group-phase football in Europe, and that competing workload looks set to shape team selection on both sides at AFAS Stadion.

Match preview

AZ sit second in the Eredivisie table with 20 points from nine matches, three points adrift of leaders Feyenoord after going down 2-0 at De Kuip on October 10, where Nacho Ferri and Javi Lopez punished a stretched AZ back line.

Echteld's side responded three days later with a battling 2-1 home win over Hapoel Be'er Sheva in the Europa League, Peer Koopmeiners breaking the deadlock after the interval before Mexx Meerdink settled the contest from the penalty spot following Forson Amankwah's leveler.

That Europa League victory came against a backdrop of local tension, with the municipality of Alkmaar barring traveling Hapoel supporters from the stadium amid security concerns and leaving the away end entirely empty for kickoff.

AZ followed that up with a share of the spoils at SC Cambuur, twice surrendering a lead in a 2-2 draw that denied them what would have been a fourth Eredivisie win in five outings.

A trip to Armenia to face Ararat-Armenia in the Europa League produced a 4-0 victory on Thursday to round off a sequence of four matches in 11 days, and Echteld is expected to freshen his lineup accordingly for the visit of Twente.

Twente travel to Alkmaar in fifth position on 17 points, three points and two places back of AZ after nine Eredivisie matches of their own.

Van den Brom's side were beaten 1-2 at home by FC Utrecht last weekend, a result that halted the momentum built from a strong start to the campaign under the veteran coach.

That defeat arrived three days after a routine continental assignment, Van den Brom's team having seen off FC Thun 1-0 in the Conference League courtesy of Ramiz Zerrouki's second-half strike at De Grolsch Veste.

The Swiss visitors spent the final half hour of that European tie with 10 men following a contested sending-off, and Twente's 22 shots to Thun's six told their own story about a scoreline that could easily have been wider.

Domestically, Twente's good form stretched back to a 3-2 home win over PSV Eindhoven on September 20 before stalling across a draw and a defeat in their last two Eredivisie outings.

Marko Pjaca and Wout Weghorst share top billing as Twente's leading scorers this season with six goals apiece, underlining how much of the Tukkers' attacking threat flows through their front two.

AZ Alkmaar Eredivisie form:

AZ Alkmaar form (all competitions):

FC Twente Eredivisie form:

FC Twente form (all competitions):

Team News

Long-term absentee Stije Resink remains sidelined by the knee injury that has kept him out since March, while Jizz Hornkamp and Kees Smit are also unavailable.

Despite the quick turnaround from Thursday's away fixture in Yerevan, Echteld is likely to stick with his trusted personnel who featured heavily in Europe.

For Twente, goalkeeper Lars Unnerstall, midfielder Max Bruns and defender Stav Lemkin all sat out the home defeat to Utrecht through injury.

The midweek Conference League trip to Gibraltar to face Lincoln Red Imps leaves Van den Brom with a tight squad to manage, and any player carrying knocks from that assignment should be assessed before Sunday's team sheet is confirmed.

AZ Alkmaar possible starting lineup:

De Busser; Dijkstra, Goes, Schouten, Chavez; Clasie, Koopmeiners, Oufkir; Stengs, Daal, Meerdink

FC Twente possible starting lineup:

Drommel; Van Rooij, Propper, Nijstad, Adelgaard; Zerrouki, Weidmann; D. Rots, Taha, Pjaca; Weghorst

We say: AZ Alkmaar 2-1 FC Twente

AZ's home advantage and greater squad depth should tell across 90 minutes, even allowing for the fatigue built up over four matches in 11 days.

Twente's attack, built around Pjaca and Weghorst, carries enough quality to trouble a tiring AZ defense and get a goal of their own, but the hosts' record of three wins from their last five Eredivisie meetings with Twente points to a tight finish in Alkmaar's favor.

A cagey opening quarter feels likely given both sides' heavy continental workloads in midweek, and AZ's extra day of rest compared with Twente's trip to Gibraltar could prove the deciding factor in the closing stages.

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