Aiming to make it four straight league victories and crack the top three of the Eredivisie table, AZ Alkmaar will travel to the Abe Lenstra Stadion to take on Heerenveen on Sunday.
The visitors only trail third spot on goal difference and progressed to the KNVB Beker final on Thursday, while their hosts sit 10th in the midst of a five-match winless run.
Match preview
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Heerenveen head into the weekend aiming to end a five-match winless streak and regain their top-half standing in the Eredivisie in their first game following the departure of manager Robin van Persie.
Following an 11th-placed finish last time around, De Superfriezen enjoyed a pleasing first half to the 2024-25 campaign, moving onto 24 points from 18 outings with an away win in their first game of the new year.
They have since failed to add an eighth notch to their wins column in five further attempts, though, firstly dropping out of the top half following back-to-back defeats to Ajax and Groningen and a 2-2 draw with Fortuna Sittard.
Since then, De Superfriezen have gone on to snatch a point in a 3-3 draw against Twente thanks to Eser Gurbuz's 93rd-minute leveller, before a trip to PEC Zwolle in mid-February ended level at a goal apiece with Alireza Jahanbakhsh equalising on the hour mark.
Now sitting 10th while trailing Groningen and leading NAC Breda on goal difference, and with Van Persie having left for Feyenoord on Monday leaving them under the temporary stewardship of Henk Brugge, Heerenveen have the chance to quickly strengthen their position in the fight for top-half spots if they can end their winless run on Sunday.
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That will be no easy task, though, as the visitors arrive in search of a fourth straight league win with the top three in their sights.
Aiming to improve on back-to-back fourth-placed finishes in the Eredivisie, AZ Alkmaar have hit their strongest run of the season so far, moving within touching distance of the final Champions League qualifying place while progressing in the KNVB Beker and Europa League.
Following consecutive defeats in league and continental action in January, Maarten Martens's side have won six of their last seven games, with the only draw coming in the second leg of a triumphant Europa League playoff tie with Galatasaray after a 3-1 home-leg win.
De Kaasboeren then made it three straight three-point hauls in the Eredivisie by beating Fortuna Sittard 1-0 last weekend thanks to Zico Buurmeester's goal, before most recently visiting Heracles in the KNVB Beker semi-final and progressing with a penalty shootout triumph, after being held to a 2-2 draw in normal time having twice led through Ernest Poku and Mayckel Lahdo.
With momentum quickly growing at the AFAS Stadion, AZ Alkmaar now sit fourth in the Eredivisie and only trail third-placed Feyenoord on goal difference, and they will hope to break into the top three with another victory on Sunday, having dished out a 9-1 beating to Heerenveen in the reverse fixture in September.
Team News
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Heerenveen continue to contend with several injury issues heading into the weekend, as top scorers Ion Nicolaescu and Jacob Trenskow are confined to the treatment room alongside Pawel Bochniewicz and Luuk Brouwers.
Given those absences, Milos Lukovic, who arrived on loan from Strasbourg in January, should continue to lead the line, while Alireza Jahanbakhsh will again line up in a supporting trio after netting his second goal of the season last time out.
Espen van Ee is a mainstay in midfield and should again be joined by Marcus Linday in the centre of their 4-2-3-1 setup.
AZ Alkmaar are without several players of their own due to injuries, as Mexx Meerdink, Ruben van Bommel, Jayden Addai and Sven Mijnans are all set to miss out again on Sunday.
That quartet have produced a combined tally of 24 goals this term, leaving plenty of attacking responsibility on star forward Troy Parrott, who has found the net 17 times this season including 12 in the Eredivisie, leaving him second in the division's scoring charts.
Despite the quick turnaround, Maarten Martens should field a similar starting XI from Thursday's cup tie, with Mayckel Lahdo and Ernest Poku offering attacking support from the wings and key men Jordy Clasie and Peer Koopmeiners continuing their midfield partnership.
Heerenveen possible starting lineup:
Van Der Hart; Braude, Kersten, Hopland, Kohlert; Van Ee, Linday; Jahanbakhsh, Smans, Rallis; Lukovic
AZ Alkmaar possible starting lineup:
Owusu-Oduro; Maikuma, Goes, Penetra, De Wit; Clasie, Koopmeiners; Poku, Buurmeester, Lahdo; Parrott
We say: Heerenveen 1-3 AZ Alkmaar
AZ Alkmaar should certainly face a tougher test than their 9-1 win in the reverse fixture, but with momentum on their side against a struggling Heerenveen team on the back of the loss of their manager, we back the visitors to come out on top on Sunday.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Sam Varley
