Having just moved out of the bottom three, Willem II play host to AZ Alkmaar on Saturday aiming to pull further away from danger.
The visitors have won six of their last seven league games, and as a result, they are bearing down on second place in the Eredivisie table.
Match preview
© Reuters
AZ Alkmaar continued their resurgence of late with a 2-0 triumph over PSV Eindhoven at the AFAS Stadion a fortnight ago.
Goals in either half from Jesper Karlsson and Teun Koopmeiners sealed the deal for Pascal Jansen's men, who moved level on points with their opponents courtesy of that win.
The Cheeseheads would move into second place for the time being at least should they manage to avoid defeat in Tilburg this weekend.
Only Ajax have scored more league goals this term than AZ, so it is no surprise that Saturday's hosts were hit for five in December's reverse fixture.
However, recent meetings between the teams have been highly competitive, with the last 18 clashes yielding seven wins apiece and four stalemates.
Willem II claimed a crucial point in their quest for survival as they held Vitesse to a goalless draw at the GelreDome two Sundays ago.
Zeljko Petrovic's men were put under immense pressure by their hosts on the day, but they held firm to ensure a share of the spoils in Arnhem.
The Tricolores are on a five-game unbeaten streak which comes off the back of 5-0 and 6-0 defeats versus Feyenoord and Utrecht respectively prior to that.
That run of form has seen them exit the drop zone, albeit on goal difference, and there is still work to do if they are to extend their seven-year stay in the top flight.
- L
- D
- W
- D
- W
- D
- W
- W
- W
- L
- W
- W
Team News
© Reuters
Dries Saddiki remains out for the game as he steps up his recovery from a muscle tear which he sustained over nine weeks ago.
Joining him on the list of absentees for the home team is Miquel Nelom, whose season has been prematurely ended with a knee injury.
Freek Heerkens will also miss the game as he remains out with a thigh problem, through which he has missed his side's last 10 fixtures.
Pantelis Chatzidiakos is expected to play no part in this one as the AZ defender remains sidelined with a knee problem.
Rens van der Wacht's involvement is still hanging in the balance as he hopes to shake off a knock just in time to play a part in the clash.
Willem II possible starting lineup:
Brondeel; Kohn, Peters, Holmen, Owusu; Kohlert, Selahi, Spieringhs, Nunnely; Pavlidis, Okyere Wriedt
AZ Alkmaar possible starting lineup:
Bizot; Wijndal, Martins Indi, Letschert, Svensson; Stengs, Koopmeiners, Midtsjo; Karlsson, Boadu, Gudmundsson
We say: Willem II 0-2 AZ Alkmaar
AZ Alkmaar have the wind in their sails heading into this one, but Willem II have also excelled of late. We are backing the away side to claim a relatively comfortable victory in this one and keep their good run going.
Top 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 AZ Alkmaar win with a probability of 69.06%. A draw had a probability of 17.1% and a win for Willem II had a probability of 13.87%.
The most likely scoreline for an AZ Alkmaar win was 1-2 with a probability of 9.44%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 0-2 (9.05%) and 1-3 (7.86%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (7.56%), while for a Willem II win it was 2-1 (3.94%). The actual scoreline of 0-1 was predicted with a 7.2% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that AZ Alkmaar would win this match.
