RKC Waalwijk are set to host AZ Alkmaar at the Mandemakers Stadion on Friday evening, aiming to secure their first points of the 2024-25 Eredivisie season.
The hosts are 17th in the table with defeats in all of their three opening fixtures, while the visitors are fourth with two wins and a draw from their three games.
Match preview
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RKC Waalwijk, after achieving ninth and 10th-place finishes in the prior two seasons, experienced a disappointing decline in 2023-24, narrowly avoiding relegation only on goal difference after finishing 15th and level on 29 points with 16th-placed Excelsior.
Having lost all of their four opening games last campaign, Henk Fraser would have been hoping for a better start this time around, but RKC Waalwijk once again find themselves without a point on the board after three fixtures.
A difficult opening match against last year's champions PSV Eindhoven saw Fraser's men suffer a 5-1 defeat, followed by a 2-1 loss to Groningen and a 2-0 loss to Go Ahead Eagles.
They now face another challenging encounter on matchday four as they face up against AZ, who remain unbeaten in their opening three matches with two wins and a draw.
Although RKC Waalwijk have struggled against AZ in recent encounters, they have evenly split their last four home matchups at the Mandemakers Stadion, winning two and losing two.
As for the visitors, they have consistently placed in the European spots in recent years, including back-to-back fourth-placed finishes in the last two seasons.
Maarten Martens faced several initial difficulties after taking charge in January 2024, failing to win any of his first four games in charge, but AZ soon found their feet under the new boss and enjoyed a brilliant end to the season.
They lost just two of their last 14 Eredivisie matches and headed into the new campaign unbeaten in their last 12 fixtures across all competitions, five Eredivisie games and seven pre-season friendlies.
Martens's men have extended their unbeaten streak at the beginning of the 2024-25 term, beating both Almere City and NEC Nijmegen by 1-0 scorelines before drawing 0-0 with Groningen in their most recent outing.
Those results leave AZ as one of just two teams yet to concede in the league, alongside Fortuna Sittard, though Martens may be worried with his team's attacking inefficiency, scoring just two goals so far.
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Team News
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The hosts will be without Oscar Zawada and Yassin Oukili after the pair received their marching orders in the last two outings for RKC Waalwijk, while Nouri Cheung is also out with a shoulder injury.
Richard van der Venne is the only player to score for RKC Waalwijk so far this season, netting a goal in each of the first two outings, but the attacking midfielder is a doubt for this game after being forced off in the 30th minute of their last match due to an injury.
The visitors are without Maxim Dekker, who is set to serve the final game of his three-match suspension following his red card after 18 minutes on the opening day of the season.
Martens will be hoping an attacking quartet of Troy Parrott, Ruben van Bommel, Sven Mijnans and Ibrahim Sadiq can find their goalscoring form in this match, having scored just twice so far this term.
RKC Waalwijk possible starting lineup:
Houwen; Lelieveld, Eijma, Buijs, Meijers; Roemeratoe, Weidmann; Cleonise, Castillo, Lokesa; Margaret
AZ Alkmaar possible starting lineup:
Owusu-Oduro; Maikuma, Goes, Penetra, Wolfe; Clasie, Koopmeiners; Sadiq, Mijnans, Van Bommel; Parrott
We say: RKC Waalwijk 0-2 AZ Alkmaar
While the visitors have struggled in front of goal, the hosts have conceded the second most goals so far this season, suggesting a comfortable victory for AZ Alkmaar.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Ellis Stevens
