Preview: NAC Breda vs AZ Alkmaar - prediction, team news, lineups

NAC Breda and AZ Alkmaar will draw the curtain on matchday four of the 2025-26 Eredivisie season with a meeting at the Rat Verlegh Stadion on Sunday afternoon.

Neither team managed to come away with maximum points from their most recent league outing and will be keen to return to winning ways on domestic duty before the first international break of the campaign.

Match preview

With Conference League qualification up for grabs, AZ Alkmaar have had a hectic start to proceedings this term, but they finally confirmed their place in the group stage of UEFA's newest club competition courtesy of a 6-1 aggregate victory over Levski Sofia in the final qualifying round.

Maarten Martens's men were exempted from the third round of Eredivisie matches last weekend to give them ample preparation time for the second leg of their aforementioned European tie.

The Cheeseheads played out a 2-2 stalemate against newly promoted Volendam in their last league outing to leave them on four points from a possible six so far after an opening-day 4-1 thrashing of Groningen.

Since a 4-3 defeat to Ilves in their first continental assignment of the season, AZ are now without defeat in seven straight competitive matches, winning six of them ahead of this weekend's encounter.

Sunday's visitors have been solid at both ends of the pitch during that span, scoring a whopping 21 goals and letting in just four at the other end.

AZ's record against their upcoming opponents also makes for good reading with eight wins and only one defeat from the last 10 encounters, although they did labour to a 1-1 stalemate in the most recent meeting, where Mexx Meerdink netted a 97th-minute equaliser.

Having failed to win any of their final 16 matches, Breda ended the 2024-25 season on a downward spiral after such a good start, which had them dreaming of European football at some point.

Off the back of a 2-0 defeat to Feyenoord in their curtain raiser on August 9, Carl Hoefkens's men beat Fortuna Sittard 2-1 eight days later for their first league win in seven months, but any momentum from that victory was quickly extinguished by a 3-0 loss to NEC last time out.

The upcoming international break allows Parel van het Zuiden to re-strategise in the quest to kickstart their season amid what is undoubtedly a daunting run of matches.

Breda will follow up this weekend's game with clashes against Twente, Heracles, and Ajax in September, meaning they will have played five of last season's top eight teams across the first seven gameweeks.

Since returning to the top flight, Sunday's hosts have picked up 27 of their 36 points from matches on home turf, and their home form will be a huge determinant of how well they perform this term.

NAC Breda Eredivisie form:

AZ Alkmaar Eredivisie form:

AZ Alkmaar form (all competitions):

Team News

Charles-Andreas Brym has not featured for Breda this season due to an arm problem that will keep the Norwegian out of Sunday's game.

Terence Kongolo sustained a muscle problem in his side's opener against Feyenoord and is set to miss a third straight game, while Moussa Soumano is also sidelined.

Long-term absentee Seiya Maikuma has not appeared for AZ Alkmaar since the final game of last season as he continues to recover from a knee injury.

New arrival Matej Sin will have to wait a little longer for his first outing, and joining him on the list of absentees for the visitors is Mexx Meerdink, who came off with an injury last time out.

Troy Parrott missed out on the opportunity to extend his scoring streak to eight matches after missing his side's 4-1 victory over Levski Sofia, but the forward is expected to be back in contention for this weekend.

NAC Breda possible starting lineup:

Bielica; Kemper, Hillen, Mahmutovic, Valerius; Holtby, Balard; Sowah, Nassoh, Talvitie; Van Hooijdonk

AZ Alkmaar possible starting lineup:

Owusu-Oduro; De Wit, Penetra, Goes, Kasius; Koopmeiners, Smit, Clasie; Jensen, Parrott, Sadiq