This year's championship in the Netherlands promises to be one of the most interesting in the past few years. As many as 5 teams have, it can be said, real chances to hope for first place at the end of the season. The difference between first placed Feyenoord and fifth placed AZ Alkmaar is only 4 points. AZ is playing very well during this season, as the results in Europe and in the national cup certainly prove. In addition to fighting at the top of the Eredivisie table, AZ is in the round of 16 of the UEFA Conference League, having come first in Group E. And, in the Dutch Cup, the team will play against Excelsior in the next round. The last competitive game last year was a big derby against PSV in which AZ achieved a very important victory as a guest. They won 1-0, with a goal by Vangelis Pavlidis, who also showed in that match why he is one of the most important players of this team. After missing a good portion of the season due to injury, Pavlidis returned to the team in October and has since played 6 games, scoring one goal and providing one assist. In addition to him, AZ has other quality individuals who play at a very high level, I am primarily referring to Dani de Wit and the team's first scorer Odgaard. The very interesting American international Djordje Mihailovic joined the team and with him AZ will get even more security in the middle of the field. Before the start of the championship, they played only two friendly games, but against very strong opponents, Valencia and Atalanta. They won both matches, which is certainly a good sign before the season continues. Without a doubt, they have a much better team than Vitese and I am quite sure that they will register three new points in this match.
As for Vitese, it can be said that they have had a fairly average season so far. The team is in 11th place in the table with only 15 points won after 14 games played. The possible cause of such results is the management's decision to prioritize very young players. The vast majority of players from the starting line-up of Vitesse are no more than 23 years old and their lack of experience seems obvious to me. They are a team that does not score a lot of goals, and they are also a team that is not known for good defense. So far they have conceded 30 goals and according to that parameter they are the third worst team in the league. With such an approach to the game from defensive players, it may happen that they have a lot of problems against the very high quality attack of AZ. In this match, AZ Alkmaar has the advantage of the home field, which in the recent past they knew how to use very well against today's rival. In the last 6 home games against Vitesse, AZ recorded 5 wins and one draw. In each of those victories, they managed to score at least two goals, and I expect a similar scenario today.
