The team from Arnhem had a terrible start to the season, being in the relegation zone for a long time. They partially recovered in the last rounds moving up to the 13th position. During the winter break, the guests made a training camp in Portugal and played two friendly games, both lost, 2-1 to Duisburg and 1-0 to Sparta Rotterdam. Back in the Netherlands also lost against Eerste Divisie Zwolle 3-2. A lot of players left Vitesse and this is their reality now. They have a very young team and they have a very tough test ahead of them against AZ. The talent of the team is not disputed, but it will not be enough against a team that can deal with the giants of Dutch football. AZ is having a great season overall despite a small crisis in October. They managed to win most of the key games, against Ajax and PSV. Despite the fact, AZ had key offensive players like Jesper Karlsson and Vangelis Pavlidis injured for some time but succeeded to deliver with regularity. Now they are back in the team and with the two of them in attack, the strength of AZ is increasing drastically. Regular defender Martins Indi has not played since September, but good news is that another important defender Zinho Vanheusden is back with the squad after recovering from a serious injury. Danny De Wit and Milos Kerkez will not play tomorrow in Alkmaar, but coach Pascal Jansen has quality replacements in those positions. AZ, under his command, has become a very difficult team even for the big three of Holland and I think they should beat Vitesse without any major problems. The race for the title is still open, this is the most interesting season after many years in the Netherlands, and with the way AZ is playing, I wouldn't be surprised if they fight for the title until the last round.
