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

AZ Alkmaar and FC Volendam serve up the first taste of Eredivisie action in 2026 with a meeting at the AFAS Stadion on Saturday afternoon.

Given the teams' current positions in the Eredivisie table, they will head into the second half of the campaign with different targets, with the hosts seeking European football, while the away side have top-flight safety as their priority.

Match preview

Back on league duty after consecutive Conference League outings against Drita and Jagiellonia, AZ came away empty-handed from arguably the match of the season so far in their 4-3 defeat against Fortuna Sittard.

Maarten Martens's men more than played their part in a thrilling affair, seemingly headed for a share of the spoils, before Philip Brittijn struck late to spark wild celebrations in Sittard-Geleen.

While De Kaasboeren will have been disappointed to see their four-game unbeaten run come to an end, their league standing was not affected, with only one of the six teams above them managing maximum points - PSV's 2-1 triumph over FC Utrecht.

Unbeaten in all 12 previous meetings against this weekend's opponents, AZ have history on their side, but will need to overcome an ongoing rough patch in front of their fans, where they have only come out on top once in four games since the start of November.

With a high-stakes KNVB-Beker clash against Ajax to follow four days later, anything but a win would be less than ideal preparation for Saturday's hosts as they kick off a pivotal month with huge domestic and continental ramifications.

Volendam's return to the Eredivisie after a one-year absence kicked off on a rocky note, with just one win from the first nine matches, setting the tone for a disastrous campaign to date.

Rick Kruys's men fell to a 1-0 defeat against Groningen in their final outing of 2025, a fourth straight league loss, but sandwiched between them was a 2-0 KNVB-Beker victory over Genemuiden.

Alongside AZ Alkmaar, Het Andere Oranje have picked up the fewest points (one) of any Eredivisie team over the last five gameweeks, leaving them one point shy of safety midway through the season.

Volendam can attribute a large part of their woes to a poor away record, which has seen them fail to win any of their eight league matches so far, making them one of two teams in the division still winless on the road.

Saturday's game is the first of three straight against teams currently vying for continental football, and the visitors will need to rise to the occasion or risk falling behind in the battle for survival.

AZ Alkmaar Eredivisie form:

AZ Alkmaar form (all competitions):

FC Volendam Eredivisie form:

FC Volendam form (all competitions):

Team News

Denso Kasius and Jordy Clasie are out of contention for AZ Alkmaar due to ankle problems, with the former still awaiting a first appearance since September.

Seiya Maikuma will also watch from the sidelines as he nurses a knee injury, but Mexx Meerdink could return to action this weekend after 11 weeks out.

Right-back Mees de Wit has directly contributed to five goals in his last five matches for the home side, making him one to keep an eye on.

Nineteen-year-old Robin van Cruijsen will miss a sixth straight game with a muscle problem, which has slowed down his fine start to life in Volendam.

Belgian forward Anthony Descotte is the visitors' only other confirmed absentee for Saturday's clash, leaving Henk Veerman as the sole focal point of attack.

AZ Alkmaar possible starting lineup:

Owuso-Oduro; De Wit, Goes, Penetra, Chavez; Koopmeiners, Mijnans, Smit; Weslley, Parrott, Jensen

FC Volendam possible starting lineup:

Van Oevelen; Leliendal, Verschuren, Amevor, Payne; Bukala, Yah; Ideho, Kokcu, Oehlers; Veerman

We say: AZ Alkmaar 3-0 FC Volendam

Meetings between struggling sides tend to be attritional more often than not, but previous editions of Saturday's fixture suggest another high-scoring affair is on the cards.

That said, AZ boast a vastly superior squad, and we fancy them to run out comfortable winners when all is said and done.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.