AZ Alkmaar have the chance to leapfrog Feyenoord into fourth place in the Eredivisie table when they visit them on Sunday.
The home side saw their three-game winning streak come to an end as they were beaten 1-0 by Ajax last Sunday, while AZ secured a 2-1 comeback victory against ADO Den Haag the day before.
Match preview
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Feyenoord slipped to fourth place following their aforementioned defeat to Ajax, who are now six points clear of them in the title race.
Dick Advocaat's men will want to respond to their most recent loss as they did to the one prior to that, which came against Vitesse, and was followed by three straight wins.
However, standing in their way this time is an AZ team that possesses the only unbeaten away record in the division, having not tasted defeat in nine league matches away from the AFAS Stadion.
Historically, this fixture has gone Feyenoord's way more often than not, although it is more worth mentioning that Saturday's visitors won on their last trip to De Kuip.
De club van het volk are definitely coming into the game on a high after securing safe passage into the last eight of the KNVB-Beker by defeating Heracles Almelo 3-2 on Wednesday.
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AZ are on a seven-game unbeaten run in the league, stretching back to a 2-1 defeat versus Groningen last December.
Pascal Jansen's men were knocked out of the KNVB-Beker on Wednesday by Ajax in a 2-1 defeat, so the league is their only remaining possible source of silverware this season as they have also been knocked out of the Europa League.
The Cheeseheads are seven points adrift of Ajax at the moment, and they will look to keep the pressure on as much as possible leading up to their meeting with the league leaders in a week's time.
A defeat either at the weekend or against Ajax could ultimately condemn them to yet another trophyless season.
Feyenoord Eredivisie form: WLWWWL
Feyenoord form (all competitions): LWWWLW
AZ Alkmaar Eredivisie form: WWDDWW
AZ Alkmaar form (all competitions): WDDWWL
Team News
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Dani De Wit got injured against Groningen last December, and the midfielder has not featured for AZ since.
Feyenoord's Robert Bozenik is nearing a return to action as he steps up his recovery from an ankle injury.
Jonas Svensson's continued absence provides another opportunity for Yukinari Sugawara to star for the away side.
Another player who has benefitted from the absence of a first-team regular is Nick Marsman, who has filled in for the injured Justin Bijlow in the last few months for Saturday's hosts.
Feyenoord possible starting lineup:
Marsman; Geertruida, Spajic, Senesi, Malacia; Toornstra, Fer, Diemers; Berghuis, Jorgensen, Linssen
AZ Alkmaar possible starting lineup:
Bizot; Wijndal, Martins Indi, Hatzidiakos, Sugawara; Koopmeiners, Midtsjo, Stengs; Karlsson, Boadu, Gudmundsson
We say: Feyenoord 2-1 AZ Alkmaar
Feyenoord will be looking to bounce back from the defeat to Ajax last time out, and a home game is a perfect opportunity to do so as shown by their record this season, but it is hard to see AZ failing to score in this one.
Top betting tip
Adepoju Marvellous
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 Feyenoord win with a probability of 48.19%. A win for AZ Alkmaar had a probability of 28.16% and a draw had a probability of 23.7%.
The most likely scoreline for a Feyenoord win was 2-1 with a probability of 9.46%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-0 (8.66%) and 2-0 (7.47%). The likeliest AZ Alkmaar win was 1-2 (6.95%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (10.97%). The actual scoreline of 2-3 was predicted with a 2.5% likelihood.
