SM
Palace vs. Arsenal: 2 hrs 56 mins
Upcoming predictions and previews
Collect News Data
Eredivisie | Gameweek 1
Aug 10, 2024 at 7pm UK
Yanmar Stadion
AA

Almere City
0 - 1
AZ


Resink (45+4')
Guillaume (34'), Visus (79')
FT(HT: 0-1)
Sadiq (4')
Martens (19'), Zeefuik (86'), Maikuma (89')
Dekker (18')

Preview: Almere City vs. AZ Alkmaar - prediction, team news, lineups

:Headline: Preview: Almere City vs. AZ Alkmaar - prediction, team news, lineups:
Sports Mole previews Saturday's Eredivisie clash between Almere City and AZ Alkmaar, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.
Sports Mole

Almere City and AZ Alkmaar get the ball rolling on their 2024-25 Eredivisie campaign with a meeting at the Yanmar Stadion on Saturday evening.

The home side did well enough to avoid relegation in their debut top-flight season last time out, while the visitors finished fourth for a second year running.


Match preview

AZ Alkmaar flew out of the blocks with 26 points from the first 30 available to lay down an early marker last time out but were unable to sustain their initial momentum and ran out of steam as the season progressed.

This ultimately contributed to the dismissal of head coach Pascal Jansen midway through the campaign, with youth team manager Maarten Martens taking the reins at the AFAS Stadion.

Seeking to inspire a change in fortune, Martens endured a rough start to life as he failed to win any of his opening five games across all competitions, before managing to turn things around in the final 10 matches, picking up seven wins and a draw.

However, that could only earn the Cheeseheads a fourth-place finish behind PSV Eindhoven, Feyenoord and FC Twente in the league standings with 65 points from 34 outings.

AZ carried over their end-of-season form into their warm-up games for the new campaign, winning all but two of their seven friendly matches while also scoring a whopping 23 goals in that time.

Saturday's visitors will now go in search of a third opening-day win in a row, having beaten Go Ahead Eagles in each of the last two editions since narrowly losing 1-0 to RKC Waalwijk in August 2021.

Almere City were unsurprisingly tipped by many to suffer relegation from the Eredivisie due to their inexperience at this level, but they defied expectations by finishing 13th, five points clear of the drop zone.

Hedwiges Maduro's men largely had their defence to thank for staying afloat of relegation danger, as their tally of 10 clean sheets was only bettered by four teams in the entire division.

This more than made up for a misfiring attacking unit, which scored the second-fewest goals with 33 strikes from 34 matches, highlighting the biggest area of concern for De Zwarte Schapen going forward.

Having lost a significant amount of players from last season's squad, Almere have had to be active in the transfer market, bringing in 10 new arrivals heading into their sophomore top-flight journey.

Saturday's hosts now prepare for the first of two daunting assignments in their opening two home games of the campaign with defending champions PSV Eindhoven scheduled to come to town next after AZ this weekend.

Almere City pre-season form:
  • L
  • L
  • L
  • W
  • W
  • W

AZ Alkmaar pre-season form:
  • W
  • W
  • W
  • D
  • D
  • W


Team News

Sem Westerveld remains out of contention here, with the AZ goalkeeper still a considerable way off returning to action from a knee injury.

Twenty-one-year-old Mexx Meerdink is a major doubt for the away side, having been sidelined since mid-March with a groin problem.

New signing Troy Parrott found the back of the net in all of his pre-season outings since joining from Tottenham Hotspur and will be looking to deliver the goods once again.

Twenty-seven-year-old Thomas Robinet was responsible for a third of Almere's 33 league goals last time out, making him one to keep an eye on.

Christopher Mamengi is closing in on a return to action for the home side after missing the last four months due to a long-term knee injury.


Almere City possible starting lineup:
Bakker; Visus, Jacobs, Floranus; Balboa, Carbonell, Guillaume, Zagaritis; Mattoir, Hansen, Robinet

AZ Alkmaar possible starting lineup:
Zoet; Wolfe, Martins Indi, Goes, Maikuma; Koopmeiners, Clasie; Van Brederode, Mijnans, Sadiq; Parrott



We say: Almere City 1-2 AZ Alkmaar

Almere City rounded off their pre-season campaign with three straight wins, and that should inspire a level of confidence in this weekend's hosts.

That said, we are tipping AZ to come out on top from what should be an open and end-to-end affair.


For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.


body check tags ::

Previews by email

Click here to get Sports Mole's daily email of previews and predictions for every major game!


amp_article__549965 : Collect and Make Data not in DataBase  : 
last updated article - 2024-08-09 08:34:48:
html db last update - 2024-08-09 08:34:48 :

ex - 7200 : read : write cache and make html
Read more!
Share this article now:


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
AL
Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!
Recommended Next on SM
Confirmed: Tottenham sell 17-goal attacker in £6.7m deal
When will it end? Man City's horror run continues with defeat at Villa
Premier League Table
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1PSV EindhovenPSV16140256134342
2Ajax16113235161936
3FC UtrechtUtrecht1611323223936
4Feyenoord16105140182235
5FC Twente1694332201231
6AZ AlkmaarAZ1692530171329
7Go Ahead Eagles166462826222
8Fortuna SittardSittard166462023-322
9NAC BredaNAC Breda167181825-722
10Heerenveen166371728-1121
11Willem II165471718-119
12NECNijmegen165292220217
13PEC Zwolle174581626-1017
14Groningen164481426-1216
15Heracles163581833-1514
16Sparta RotterdamSparta162681424-1012
17RKC WaalwijkRKC Waalwijk1714121841-237
18Almere CityAlmere City161312737-306
Scroll for more - Tap for full version


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
AL
Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!

Loading ...

Failed to load data.

history www

All-time PL combined XI: Tottenham vs. Liverpool

NEW

1

AP

How many Man City changes has Guardiola made for Villa Premier League showdown?

2

HM

Newcastle 'could help' Man United, Chelsea 'land' £33m teenage star

3

N'

Saturday's Premier League predictions including Aston Villa vs. Man City

4

SP

Rashford latest: Man United 'make decision' over potential loan exit

5

RL

"Signed all documents" - Romano confirms Man United deal for wonderkid

6

&A

Saturday's Eredivisie predictions including AZ Alkmaar vs. FC Twente

7

SE

Preview: Valencia vs. Alaves - prediction, team news, lineups

8

PV

Saturday's La Liga predictions including Barcelona vs. Atletico Madrid

9

SL

Saturday's Championship predictions including Sunderland vs. Norwich

10

SC


. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .