Two in-form teams go head-to-head in round six of the 2022-23 Eredivisie season as AZ Alkmaar play host to FC Twente on Sunday afternoon.
Both teams are looking to make it three consecutive wins on the bounce this weekend, and the clash promises to be an enthralling one.
Match preview
AZ Alkmaar opened their Europa Conference League campaign with a narrow 1-0 victory over Dnipro-1 at the Kosicka Futbalova Arena on Thursday.
Following a drab opening 45 minutes, Pascal Jansen's men broke the deadlock just past the hour mark through Dani De Wit, and that proved to be the difference in Slovakia.
Just before that, the Cheeseheads cruised past Emmen 3-0 at De Oude Meerdijk to move into third place in the league table, two points behind Ajax at the top of the pile.
Coming up next is the challenge of an opposing outfit with little separating the teams judging by recent meetings, as the most recent six encounters have yielded three wins apiece.
Off the back of eight victories and two draws from their last 10 games on home turf across all competitions, Sunday's hosts have proven themselves to be a huge force to reckon with in front of their fans.
Twente claimed what is arguably their impressive win of the campaign so far as they defeated PSV Eindhoven 2-1 at De Grolsch Veste on Saturday.
Ron Jans's men stormed to a two-goal lead thanks to a quickfire double from Vaclav Cerny before Guus Til pulled one back 10 minutes into the second period.
With 12 points amassed from a possible 15 so far, the Tukkers are fifth in the Eredivisie standings and would leapfrog this weekend's opponents should they manage to claim all three points.
Having followed up a run of four straight wins on the road with consecutive defeats, Sunday's visitors will be keen to get back on track away from home.
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Team News
Julio Pleguezuelo is set to miss a fourth game on the bounce with a muscle problem which he sustained in Twente's Conference League playoff defeat.
The away side are also set to be without the services of Michal Sadilek and Sem Steijn, who are currently down with hamstring and ankle injuries respectively.
Michel Vlap has missed each of the last two games with a knock, but the midfielder could make his return to action in this weekend's contest.
AZ's Vangelis Pavlidis is ruled out due to a leg injury, while Sweden international Jesper Karlsson continues to nurse a long-term muscle injury.
Thirty-year-old Bruno Martins Indi remains sidelined through injury, with his last appearance for the home side coming back in late August.
AZ Alkmaar possible starting lineup:
Verhulst; Kerkez, Dekker, Beukema, Chatzidiakos; Reijnders, Clasie; Evjen, De Wit, Van Brederode; Odgaard
FC Twente possible starting lineup:
Unnerstall; Brenet, Hilgers, Propper, Smal; Rots, Zerrouki, Kjolo; Cerny, Van Wolfswinkel, Tzolis
We say: AZ Alkmaar 2-1 FC Twente
With both teams currently averaging two goals per game, we expect an end-to-end affair with lots of goalmouth action. We are also tipping AZ to narrowly come out on top at the sound of the full-time whistle.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
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