Unbeaten in their last 16 matches across all competitions, high-flying AZ Alkmaar visit De Adelaarshorst on Sunday to face off against Go Ahead Eagles.
On the other hand, the home side head into the clash seeking to exact revenge for a heavy 5-0 defeat in September's reverse fixture at the AFAS Stadion.
Match preview
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AZ Alkmaar have breezed into the last four of the KNVB-Beker thanks to an emphatic 4-0 victory against RKC Waalwijk at the Mandemakers Stadion on Wednesday.
Pascal Jansen's men flew out of the blocks and took a three-goal lead heading into the break thanks to strikes from Dani De Wit, Vangelis Pavlidis and Jesper Karlsson before Zakaria Aboukhlal put the final nail in the coffin after the restart.
Since losing to Feyenoord back in November, The Cheeseheads have won 12 and drawn four of the subsequent 16 games, picking up 24 points from a possible 30 in the league during that span which has seen them move up to fifth place in the Eredivisie table.
An opportunity to keep this fine run going awaits against an opposing side who have lost four of the last five meetings between the teams, scoring just three goals while conceding 14.
However, Sunday's visitors have been far from impressive on the road, where they have managed just 16 points and a goal difference of zero across 11 matches so far.
Like AZ, Go Ahead Eagles are also through to the semi-finals of the Dutch Cup courtesy of a 2-0 victory over NEC at the Goffertstadion on Thursday.
First-half goals from Luuk Brouwers and Giannis-Foivos Botos nine minutes apart got the job done for Kees Van Wonderen's men in Nijmegen.
The Pride of the IJsel Kowet have hit a bump in the road in the league having failed to win any of their last seven games, but they are still six points clear of danger as things stand.
Having scored just 21 goals in as many Eredivisie matches so far, Sunday's hosts will need to up the ante at the attacking end of the pitch to avoid being drawn into a relegation scrap.
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Team News
Jesper Karlsson is on a two-game scoring streak and heads into Sunday's game looking to deliver the goods once again having scored twice in the reverse fixture.
Jelle Duin remains sidelined with a long-term knee injury which he picked up back in November, and the 23-year-old is yet to feature since then.
Since returning from a minor injury layoff, midfielder Giannis-Foivos Botos has scored in consecutive matches, making him one to keep an eye on.
Dutchman Sam Crowther still awaits his first appearance of the 2021-22 campaign as he continues to nurse a heart problem which has seen him miss 46 straight games.
Go Ahead Eagles possible starting lineup:
Noppert; Kuipers, Kramer, Idzes, Martina; Rommens, Brouwers, Botos; Oratmangoen, Lidberg, Cordoba
AZ Alkmaar possible starting lineup:
Vindahl; Wijndal, Martins Indi, Chatzidiakos, Sugawara; Clasie, Midtsjo, De Wit; Karlsson, Pavlidis, Aboukhlal
We say: Go Ahead Eagles 0-2 AZ Alkmaar
AZ have been imperious of late and are huge favourites to emerge victorious in this one. We are tipping them to cruise to a comfortable victory and keep the juggernaut rolling.
Top tip
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 47.82%. A win for Go Ahead Eagles had a probability of 28.22% and a draw had a probability of 24%.
The most likely scoreline for an AZ Alkmaar win was 1-2 with a probability of 9.45%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 0-1 (8.99%) and 0-2 (7.59%). The likeliest Go Ahead Eagles win was 2-1 (6.96%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (11.18%). The actual scoreline of 1-4 was predicted with a 2.2% likelihood. Our team at Sports Mole and our data analysis both correctly predicted that AZ Alkmaar would win this match.
