Almere City vs AZ Match Analysis & Prediction
10/08/2024 9:00 pm
Almere City and AZ Alkmaar will get their 2024-25 Eredivisie campaign underway with an encounter at the Yanmar Stadion on Saturday night.
Almere city were unsurprisingly tipped by many to suffer relegation from the Eredivisie due to their inexperience at this level, but they defied expectations by finishing 13th, five points clear of the relegation zone.
Hedwiges Maduro’s side largely had their defence to thank for staying afloat of relegation danger, as their tally of 10 clean sheets was only bettered by four teams in the entire division.
This more than made up for a misfiring attacking unit, which scored the second-fewest goals with 33 strikes from 34 matches, highlighting the biggest area of concern for Almere City going forward.
Almere City now prepare for the first of two daunting assignments in their opening two home matches of the campaign, with defending champions PSV Eindhoven scheduled to come to town after AZ this weekend.
Meanwhile, AZ Alkmaar flew out of the blocks with 26 points from their first 30 available to lay down an early marker last time out but were unable to sustain their initial momentum and ran out of steam as the season progressed.
This eventually contributed to the dismissal of head coach Pascal Jansen midway through the campaign, with youth team manager Maarten Martens taking the reins at the AFAS Stadion.
Seeking to inspire a change in fortunes, Martens endured a rough start to life as he failed to win any of his opening five matches across all competitions, before managing to turn things around in the final 10 matches, securing seven wins and a draw.
However, that could only earn the Cheeseheads a fourth-placed finish behind PSV Eindhoven, Feyenoord and FC Twente in the league standings with 65 points from 34 matches.
AZ carried over their end-of-season form into their warm-up matches for the new campaign, winning all but two of their seven friendlies while also scoring a whopping 23 goals in that period.
Martens’ side will go in search of a third opening-day victory in a row, having beaten Go Ahead Eagles in each of the last two editions since narrowly losing 1-0 to RKC Waalwijk in August 2021.
Almere City vs. AZ Head to head
In the previous four meetings between these two teams, AZ have claimed three victories while they have drawn once.
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16/07/2016AZ4Almere City0Club Friendlies
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26/10/2017Almere City0AZ4KNVB Beker
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09/12/2023AZ4Almere City1Eredivisie
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10/02/2024Almere City0AZ0Eredivisie
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10/08/2024Almere CityN/AAZN/AEredivisie
Almere City Team News
Twenty-seven-year-old Thomas Robinet was responsible for a third of Almere City’s 33 league goals last time out, making him one to keep an eye on.
Christopher Mamengi is closing in on a return to action for the hosts after missing the last four months due to a long-term knee injury.
Almere City's Last 5 Matches
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28/06/2024Almere City1FC SB2Club Friendlies
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18/07/2024Konyaspor3Almere City2Club Friendlies
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22/07/2024Samsunspor0Almere City1Club Friendlies
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27/07/2024Borussia Dortmund II0Almere City3Club Friendlies
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03/08/2024Almere City1RKC Waalwijk0Club Friendlies
AZ Team News
Sem Westerveld remains out of contention here, with the AZ goalkeeper still a considerable way off returning to action from a knee injury.
New signing Troy Parrott scored in all of his pre-season matches since joining from Tottenham Hotspur and will be looking to deliver the goods once again.
AZ's Last 5 Matches
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20/07/2024AZ3Kortrijk0Club Friendlies
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24/07/2024AZ2Aris1Club Friendlies
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27/07/2024AZ2Atalanta2Club Friendlies
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31/07/2024AZ1Le Havre1Club Friendlies
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03/08/2024Stoke City0AZ1Club Friendlies
Almere City vs. AZ: Odds and Predictions
Main Prediction
1X2: 2
Best Odds
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