SM
Man Utd vs. Chelsea: 18 hrs 56 mins
Upcoming predictions and previews
Collect News Data
H
Eredivisie | 1st Leg
May 19, 2022 at 5.45pm UK
Abe Lenstra Stadion
AA

Heerenveen
3 - 2
AZ

van Hooijdonk (58'), Sarr (90'), Halilovic (90+4')
van Hooijdonk (4'), van Ewijk (20'), Haye (68')
FT(HT: 0-0)
Evjen (59'), Pavlidis (65')
Karlsson (79')

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

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

Eredivisie outfits Heerenveen and AZ Alkmaar will lock horns at the Abe Lenstra Stadion for the first leg of their Europa Conference League playoff semi-final on Thursday.

The hosts finished the regular season in eighth place, three places and 20 points behind their opponents AZ Alkmaar in fifth.


Match preview

For the first time in four years, Heerenveen secured a top-half finish after beating Go Ahead Eagles 3-1 on home soil last weekend.

A brace from Sydney van Hooijdonk and a late strike from Anthony Musaba put De Superfriezen three goals in front, before Jacob Mulenga netted a consolation goal for the visitors in the closing stages.

Interim boss Ole Tobiasen will be proud to have steered his side into the top eight, considering there was a stage in the season where they were on the verge of a relegation battle.

Following the dismissal of Johnny Jansen at the end of January, Tobiasen stepped in and initially had a difficult start in the dugout, losing his first four games in charge and conceding an average of two goals per match.

However, their form has since improved and they finished the regular season with only two defeats in their final 11 league games – including five wins and four draws – which helped to push them into the top half and in with a chance of qualifying for Europe.

Victory over two legs against AZ Alkmaar will move Heerenveen one step closer to European qualification for the first time since 2009-10, when they competed in the Europa League.

While Heerenveen ended the regular season on a high, AZ Alkmaar endured a contrasting end to their campaign, winning only two of their last nine Eredivisie matches.

A run of three successive score draws was followed by a 3-1 home defeat to RKC Waalwijk on the final day of the season last weekend.

Dani de Wit cancelled out Finn Stokkers's opener on the stroke of half time, but the visitors secured all three points courtesy of strikes in the final half-hour from substitutes Jurien Gaari and Roy Kuijpers.

After finishing the season in fifth place, their lowest league position for five years, AZ boss Pascal Jansen will be keen for his side to put an end to their poor run of form with victory on Thursday.

The Cheeseheads – who were eliminated in the Europa Conference League round of 16 earlier this season – will be confident of success against Heerenveen, as they have won each of the last five meetings against them, scoring 14 goals in the process.

Heerenveen Eredivisie form:
  • W
  • L
  • D
  • W
  • L
  • W

AZ Alkmaar Eredivisie form:
  • L
  • W
  • D
  • D
  • D
  • L


Team News

Heerenveen duo Pawel Bochniewicz and Joost van Aken are both sidelined with respective ACL and groin injuries, while Nick Bakker is doubtful and will be assessed ahead of kickoff.

Tobiasen is expected to stick with a 3-5-2 formation, which is likely to see Lucas Woudenberg join Sven van Beek and Ibrahim Dresevic in the back three.

Van Hooijdonk's brace at the weekend is set to see him retain his place up front alongside Swedish forward Amin Sarr, while Tibor Halilovic, Thom Haye and Anas Tahiri could all start again in centre-midfield.

As for AZ Alkmaar, teenage forward Yusuf Barasi has been sidelined since December and is set to miss out again on Thursday.

Owen Wijndal and Jesper Karlsson have been a constant threat on the left flank all season, registering 22 assists combined in the Dutch top-flight, and the pair are set to continue at left-back and left-wing respectively.

Yukinari Sugawara could replace Aslak Fonn Witry at right-back, while Jordy Clasie, Fredrik Midtsjo and Dani de Wit are set to start in centre-midfield, with the latter likely to be given licence to roam further forward.

Heerenveen possible starting lineup:
Mulder; Van Beek, Dresevic, Woudenberg; Van Ewijk, Tahiri, Halilovic, Haye, Kaib; Sarr, Hooijdonk

AZ Alkmaar possible starting lineup:
Jensen; Sugawara, Hatzidiakos, Martins Indi, Wijndal; Clasie, Midtsjo; Evjen, De Wit, Karlsson; Pavlidis


We say: Heerenveen 2-2 AZ Alkmaar

AZ have had no problems finding the net despite their dip in form, while there have been goals aplenty in recent games involving Heerenveen, so an entertaining contest is expected at the Abe Lenstra Stadion.

However, with little to separate these two teams, a score draw could be on the cards, keeping the tie nicely poised heading into Sunday's second leg.

For additional data used by our team to analyse our suggested result 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__486033 : Collect and Make Data not in DataBase  : 
last updated article - 2024-06-07 08:30:57:
html db last update - 2024-06-07 08:30:57 :

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
Wednesday's Eredivisie predictions including Ajax vs. Heerenveen
Pain for Guardiola! Champions Man City shocked by Bournemouth at Vitality Stadium
The Porto plan: Real Madrid goalkeeper to be part of £67m swap?
Saturday's Eredivisie predictions including Ajax vs. PSV
Premier League Table
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1PSV EindhovenPSV1110013792830
2Ajax108112391425
3FC UtrechtUtrecht97111510522
4FC Twente116322291321
5Feyenoord1054121101119
6AZ AlkmaarAZ105232091117
7NAC BredaNAC Breda115061218-615
8Go Ahead Eagles104241317-414
9Fortuna SittardSittard10424913-414
10Willem II113351111012
11Heracles113351222-1012
12Sparta RotterdamSparta102531113-211
13Heerenveen103251220-811
14NECNijmegen103161010010
15Groningen102351113-29
16PEC Zwolle10226919-108
17Almere CityAlmere City10136521-166
18RKC WaalwijkRKC Waalwijk10019828-201
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


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