The final curtain on Saturday in the Eredivisie brings us a blockbuster matchup, with PSV Eindhoven set to take on AZ Alkmaar at Philips Stadion.
Both these sides ended 2024 with important victories to head into the break in the top five, and they will be looking to kickstart the New Year on a positive note.
Match preview
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After suffering a shock 1-0 defeat away to Heerenveen in mid-December, PSV Eindhoven bounced back to winning ways in fine style, notching up a very impressive 3-0 victory over Feyenoord before the league break.
Noa Lang and Luuk de Jong both netted in the first half to give the Red and Whites' a 2-0 lead at half time before Malik Tillman secured the points with a third goal of the afternoon and his seventh in the league competition this season.
That result maintained the Boeren's six-point advantage over Ajax at the top of the league standings and took them to 59 goals for the season, 19 more than the next-best tally in the division.
While Peter Bosz's side have already lost two games this term - one more than they conceded across the entire last season - they have remained flawless on their home patch, winning all eight league games at Philips Stadion while scoring two or more in each match.
PSV won the reverse fixture against this opponent 2-1 at AFAS Stadion in October and are now on a four-match win streak against AZ dating back to May 2023.
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Meanwhile, AZ Alkmaar made a very impressive start to the season, going unbeaten across their first six games (W5 D1 L0), but a torrid run of results between the end of September and mid-November saw them forced out of the top four in the league standings.
However, another turn of fortune arrived at the end of November when they brought an end to a six-match winless streak, which included five defeats and a draw, with a much-needed 2-1 victory over Sparta Rotterdam.
Since then, Maarten Martens's side reeled off four consecutive victories leading up to the December break, marking their longest winning run in the top flight since between August and September of 2023.
On the road, AZ have earned exactly half of their 32-point tally this season (W5 D1 L2) and have scored two or more goals in each of their last three outings, while they have only failed to find the back of the net once in their last six away league games.
Team News
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Ivan Perisic started the last two matches of December for PSV in place of Johan Bakayoko, and he will likely retain his place in the three-man front line alongside De Jong and Lang this weekend.
The hosts could be without five players for this match due to injury, including Rick Karsdorp (muscle), Isaac Babadi (unspecified), Couhaib Driouech (ankle), Adamo Nagalo (shoulder) and long-term absentee Sergino Dest (knee).
For the visitors, Troy Parrott ended 2024 in fine form, netting in each of his last three matches of the year, which took him to 10 goals for the season, just two shy of current top-scorer Sem Steijn.
AZ are likely to have three players sidelined for this trip to Eindhoven due to injury, with Sem Westerveld and Kristijan Belic ruled out for the foreseeable future, while Kees Smit is still a few weeks away from returning to first-team action.
PSV Eindhoven possible starting lineup:
Benitez; Ledezma, Flamingo, Boscagli, Junior; Schouten, Tillman, Saibari; Lang, De Jong, Perisic
AZ Alkmaar possible starting lineup:
Owusu-Oduro; Maikuma, Penetra, Goes, Wolfe; Clasie, Mijnans, Koopmeiners; Poku, Parrott, Van Bommel
We say: PSV Eindhoven 3-1 AZ Alkmaar
While AZ ended 2024 with an excellent run of results, it is difficult to back against PSV on their home patch, as they have won every league match at Philips Stadion this season and are unbeaten in the top flight at the venue since November 2022.
We feel the hosts will add to that record with another victory in this one.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Devesh Jaganath
