In this week 21 match on the 10th of February, AZ Alkmaar will host Excelsior in a clash of these two extremely mismatched Eredivisie teams. Weather on match day is looking like a cloudy and cool day, with daytime temperatures of only 6 degrees, so hopefuly the match makes up for the weather. In their last match, 2nd placed AZ Alkmaar, recorded a 1-2 loss against FC Utrecht. Nick Viergever scored the first goal for FC Utrecht in the 58th minute, then Jesper Karlsson got the equalizer for AZ Alkmaar in the 86th minute on a feed from Jens Odgaard. AZ Alkmaar should be reasonably happy with their recent performance, earning 18 points in their last 10 matches, while in their last match, Excelsior recorded a 0-0 scoreless draw against RKC Waalwijk. Excelsior had 17 on net, and RKC Waalwijk had 17, but no one could beat the goalie, and the game ended in a 0-0 draw,. Excelsior looks to improve on their recent performance, having earned only 10 points in their last 10 matches.
In their last match together, AZ Alkmaar was victorious by a score of 4 to 1. Jens Odgaard struck first for AZ Alkmaar in the 13th minute on a feed from Tijani Reijnders, then Reda Kharchouch tied it up for Excelsior in the 32nd minute.
Excelsior hasn’t been successful in netting any goals lately. Their top scorers in the last five matches are Marouan Azarkan and Damon Mirani, and they each have 1 goal. AZ Alkmaar is glad to have Vangelis Pavlidis in top form. In the last 5 matches the attacker has scored 5 goals
Pascal Jansen’s AZ Alkmaar squad will be without Dani De Wit, Riechedly Bazoer and Bruno Martins Indi, while Marinus Dijkhuizen’s Excelsior squad will be without Arthur Zagre, Jacky Donkor, Kik Pierie and Baas.