Your Web 3 Guru and Moonbet presenting todays match: AZ Alkmaar against Feyenoord Rotterdam
AZ Alkmaar’s performance trajectory hasn’t shown significant improvement since the departure of head coach Pascal Jansen. Their recent competitive matches against PEC Zwolle and SC Heerenveen both ended in draws. The last victory in regular playing time traces back to early December 2023 when they defeated Almere City FC 4-1, and things looked markedly different in Alkmaar at that time.
As the season unfolded, it gradually became apparent that the club’s management did not anticipate the challenges they would face. New coach Maarten Martens welcomed Lequincio Zeefuik last week, marking the third addition to the squad alongside Gonçalo Esteves and Kristijan Belić. However, this was balanced by the temporary departures of Mexx Meerdink, Kenzo Goudmijn, and Jens Odgaard. Only time will unveil whether the squad is now in better shape than it was a month ago.
Feyenoord Rotterdam, their upcoming opponents, are set to face AZ twice this week – first on Sunday afternoon in the AFAS Stadium in the Eredivisie and then on Wednesday evening in De Kuip in the quarter-finals of the KNVB Cup tournament. The winter transfer market in Rotterdam was notably quiet, with Javairo Dilrosun’s loan to Club America in Mexico being the sole highlight.
The reigning national champions faced a challenging start in the 2024 calendar year, drawing against NEC, narrowly winning against bottom-of-the-table Vitesse, and securing a fortunate cup win over PSV. Last weekend, they settled for a 0-0 draw against FC Twente in De Kuip, increasing the gap with leader PSV to 12 points. AZ, in fourth place, was eight points adrift before the weekend.
Players to keep an eye on: Eredivisie’s top scorer Vangelis Pavlidis (20 goals, 1 assist) continues to maintain a remarkable ‘one goal per game’ ratio after 19 rounds. Santiago Giménez, Feyenoord’s leading scorer of the season (19 goals, 4 assists), has not found the back of the net in his last three competitive appearances.
Hot stat: AZ Alkmaar hasn’t kept a clean sheet at home against Feyenoord in the Eredivisie since 2009!