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AZ Alkmaar
Eredivisie | Gameweek 19
Jan 27, 2021 at 5.45pm UK
AFAS Stadion, Alkmaar
FC Utrecht

AZ
0 - 1
Utrecht


Wijndal (70')
FT(HT: 0-0)
van de Streek (69')
Ramselaar (51'), Janssen (81')

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

Sports Mole previews Wednesday's Eredivisie clash between AZ Alkmaar and FC Utrecht, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.

AZ Alkmaar host FC Utrecht on Wednesday evening, hoping to extend their unbeaten Eredivisie run to nine matches.

Meanwhile, the visitors have lost just one of their last seven league matches and are looking for their third successive win.


Match preview

AZ Alkmaar's Albert Guomundsson celebrates scoring their second goal with teammates in October 2020© Reuters

AZ Alkmaar secured their 10th league victory of the campaign as they won 3-2 away at Feyenoord last weekend, in what was an entertaining encounter.

Equalisers from Nicolai Jorgensen and Mark Diemers were not enough to claim any points for Feyenoord, who struggled to deal with Alkmaar forward Myron Boadu, whose brace helped snatch a victory from the hosts.

The Cheeseheads have already secured impressive scalps against Vitesse Arnhem and PSV Eindhoven and will be hoping to head into their match with table toppers Ajax on Sunday with another victory against Utrecht under their belts.

AZ have won each of their last three home matches against Utrecht by a 3-0 scoreline, but their last meeting with the Domstedelingen finished as a 2-2 draw in December.

Victory for Pascal Jansen's men would be their sixth triumph at the AFAS Stadium and could move them level on points with PSV if they were to lose away to Emmen.

Utrecht claimed back-to-back league victories for the first time this season after a 2-0 win against Heracles was followed up with a slender 1-0 triumph over Sparta Rotterdam last weekend.

Despite dominating most of the match, the home side left it late as Othman Boussaid's brilliant left-footed strike on the edge of the penalty area in the 88th minute sealed their fifth Eredivisie win of the campaign, moving them up to eighth in the table.

Rene Hake, who was appointed as head coach in November 2020, has seen his side put together a good run of form as the Domstedelingen have lost only one of their last seven top-flight matches.

Utrecht have however won only one of their eight away games in the league this campaign – a 3-2 victory against Emmen before Christmas – and head into Wednesday's match having won only two of their last 14 visits to Alkmaar.

Securing a surprise win in midweek would see the visitors remain in eighth place but could move them within eight points of the Europa League positions.

AZ Alkmaar Eredivisie form: WDDWWW
AZ Alkmaar form (all competitions): DDWWLW

FC Utrecht Eredivisie form: WDDLWW


Team News

AZ Alkmaar players look dejected against Real Sociedad on November 5, 2020© Reuters

AZ Alkmaar right-back Jonas Svensson's continued absence provides another opportunity for Japanese international Yukinari Sugawara to start for the home side.

Dani De Wit (ankle), Ron Vlaar (knock) and Jeremy Helmer (leg) are also unavailable with injuries.

Utrecht will be without forwards Eljero Elia and Moussa Sylla, who are both making steady progress towards returning to action, while Emil Bergstrom is a doubt for the match with a hamstring injury.

Head coach Rene Hake may decide to name the same starting lineup that beat Sparta Rotterdam on Sunday.

AZ Alkmaar possible starting lineup:
Bizot; Sugawara, Hatzidiakos, Martins Indi, Wijndal; Koopmeiners, Midtsjo, Stengs; Gudmundsson, Boadu, Karlsson

FC Utrecht possible starting lineup:
Oelschlagel; Ter Avest, St Jago, Janssen, Warmerdam; Van de Streek, Maher, Van Overeem; Kerk, Dalmau, Ramselaar


SM words green background

We say: AZ Alkmaar 2-1 FC Utrecht

A close encounter is to be expected on Wednesday evening as both sides have impressed in recent weeks. Utrecht have kept clean sheets in their last two matches, but achieving another one against an Alkmaar side, who have scored in all 18 Eredivisie matches this campaign, is unlikely. We expect the home side to claim all three points and close in on the top two.


Top betting tip

Our expert tipster partners at Sporita.com are predicting under 3.5 goals in this match. Click here to find out what else they are predicting for this game and for more of their tried-and-tested football tips.Under 3.5:data


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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 Alkmaar win with a probability of 57.26%. A win for FC Utrecht had a probability of 22.37% and a draw had a probability of 20.4%.

The most likely scoreline for an AZ Alkmaar win was 2-1 with a probability of 9.51%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-0 (7.29%) and 3-1 (6.9%). The likeliest FC Utrecht win was 1-2 (5.7%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (8.74%). The actual scoreline of 0-1 was predicted with a 4% likelihood.


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PSV Eindhoven players celebrate in October 2020
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rhs 2.0
Today's games header
Tables header RHS
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1PSV EindhovenPSV26233081136872
2Feyenoord26195266214562
3FC Twente26165549252453
4AZ AlkmaarAZ26147553233049
5Ajax26118757471041
6NECNijmegen26109750401039
7Go Ahead Eagles2610793835337
8FC UtrechtUtrecht269983133-236
9Fortuna SittardSittard2697103344-1134
10Sparta RotterdamSparta2687113338-531
11Heerenveen2694134249-731
12Almere CityAlmere City2679102643-1730
13PEC Zwolle2677123447-1328
14Heracles2675143358-2526
15SBV ExcelsiorExcelsior26410123957-1822
16RKC WaalwijkRKC Waalwijk2664162443-1922
17Vitesse2645172153-3217
18FC VolendamVolendam2635182667-4114


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