Both looking to bounce back from significant defeats on the continent earlier in the week, Dutch champions Feyenoord will welcome title challengers AZ Alkmaar to Stadion Feijenoord on Sunday afternoon in the Eredivisie.
The hosts' hopes of progressing into the knockout stages of the Champions League took a major blow at Lazio on Tuesday, while AZ returned from a Europa Conference League trip to Aston Villa on Thursday night empty-handed.
Match preview
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Following a sensational run of nine wins from 10 matches across all competitions stretching back to the late August trashing of newly-promoted Almere City, Feyenoord are now enduring their worst short-term run of form so far this season, losing two of their last three matches as they fight on domestic and European fronts.
Tuesday night saw the Eredivisie holders relinquish second place in Champions League Group E to Serie A outfit Lazio, who - despite having only 36% of the possession against Arne Slot's men - managed to claim a vital three points thanks to Ciro Immobile's 200th goal for the Eagles since joining from Sevilla in 2016.
Just as in their European group, Feyenoord currently occupy third position in the Dutch top-flight standings, level on points with Sunday's visitors in second and seven points behind league leaders PSV Eindhoven, who remarkably have their 100% record intact after 11 matches.
As Stadio Olimpico in Rome celebrated the achievements of a top-class goalscorer, another in red and white left disappointed, with Feyenoord's Santiago Gimenez having enjoyed a stellar start to the 2023-24 term by bagging 13 league goals in 11 appearances, but the Mexican has now failed to find the net in his last three games.
Despite the obvious offensive qualities of Gimenez, Slot's side also have other avenues to hurt their opponents, with summer signing Calvin Stengs and Brazilian youngster Igor Paixao already amassing 14 goal contributions between them since the start of the current season.
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AZ Alkmaar return to Eredivisie matters this weekend sick of the sight of Unai Emery's Aston Villa, who have handed the Amsterdam-based club two losses in the space of a fortnight to seriously dent the Dutch team's chances of progressing into the latter stages of this season's Conference League.
Showing his talent and intelligence in equal measure, AZ's striking sensational Evangelos Pavlidis gave the likes of Clement Lenglet and Ezri Konsa a difficult night at Villa Park on Thursday, and the 24-year-old managed to put the visitors ahead, but second-half counters from Diego Carlos and England international Ollie Watkins sealed all three points for the Villans.
Similar to Feyenoord's situation with Gimenez, Pascal Jansen's side have arguably been too reliant on the goalscoring prowess of Pavlidis this term, and although Dani de Wit and Mayckel Lahdo have netted four and three times respectively, exactly 50% of the team's goals have come from the Greece international.
Along with Peter Bosz's flawless league leaders, AZ are one of only two sides in the division who have managed to preserve their unbeaten status up to this point, although stalemates with top-flight newcomers Heracles and Excelsior have prevented Alkmaar from joining PSV at the foot of the Eredivisie table.
AZ have struggled in recent times at Stadion Feijenoord, meaning supporters will have to cast their minds back to January 2021 for the last time Jansen's side got the better of their fellow Dutch giants in Rotterdam, with a brace from Myron Boadu and a Jesper Karlsson strike firing the visitors to a 3-2 success.
Team News
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Feyenoord will remain without the services of winger Yankuba Minteh this weekend, with the 19-year-old still recovering from a muscle strain that he suffered in the 4-0 win over Vitesse on October 21.
Right-back Bart Nieuwkoop is a major doubt for Sunday's match after being substituted during the first half in Rome on Tuesday night, meaning veteran Gernot Trauner could be promoted from the bench.
Luka Ivanusec was dropped for his side's Champions League clash in Italy but could regain his spot in the XI this weekend, while Alireza Jahanbakhsh has the unenviable task of attempting to dislodge leading marksman Gimenez from the hosts' team.
After earning only his third start of the term at Villa Park, attacker Ruben van Bommel is expected to be replaced by either Myron van Brederode or Ernest Poku in Feyenoord's XI for their outing in Rotterdam.
Centre-back Riechedly Bazoer provided an outstanding assist for Pavlidis's opener in Birmingham on Thursday, and the 27-year-old should partner former Stoke City favourite Bruno Martins Indi in the backline.
Jansen's side are missing the talents of several players who are yet to kick a ball this term due to their respective injuries, including Lewis Schouten, Mees de Wit and Mexx Meerdink.
Feyenoord possible starting lineup:
Bijlow; Trauner, Geertruida, Hancko, Hartman; Wieffer, Zerrouki, Timber; Stengs, Ivanusec, Gimenez
AZ Alkmaar possible starting lineup:
Ryan; Sugawara, Bazoer, Indi, Wolfe; Clasie, De Wit, Mijnans; Sadiq, Van Brederode, Pavlidis
We say: Feyenoord 3-2 AZ Alkmaar
With Feyenoord and AZ having only one Eredivisie defeat between them so far this term, it is extremely difficult to predict the outcome as two of the division's top performers meet.
Slot's men have been almost perfect on their own patch in 2023-24, and we feel that home comforts - coupled with two days of extra rest compared to Alkmaar - will lead to victory for the hosts on Sunday.
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Top tip
Carter White
