Round 24 of the 2023-24 Eredivisie campaign sees Sparta Rotterdam welcome AZ Alkmaar to the Sparta Stadion Het Kasteel on Saturday evening.
For the visitors, this weekend's meeting provides an opportunity to complete a league double over their hosts following a 2-0 victory in the reverse fixture.
Match preview
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AZ Alkmaar made it consecutive wins in grand style thanks to a 2-0 victory over Ajax when the sides faced off at the AFAS Stadion on Sunday.
Maarten Martens's men got their noses in front early on through Ruben van Bommel after which the 19-year-old doubled his tally midway through the second half to seal the deal.
While the Cheeseheads remain fourth in the Eredivisie table, they have now opened up a six-point gap on Ajax in the race for the last guaranteed European spot.
Lying in store next is the challenge of an opposing outfit who boast just one victory from the last seven editions of this fixture dating back to 2020.
Having recently ended a five-game winless away run, Saturday's visitors now set out to win back to back matches on the road for the first time since October.
Sparta Rotterdam's struggles on enemy territory continued as they fell to a 2-0 defeat against NEC Nijmegen in Saturday's clash at Stadion de Goffert.
Jeroen Rijsdijk's men went into the interval down by two thanks to strikes from Dirk Proper and Calvin Verdonk separated by just four minutes.
With 29 points picked up from 23 matches, De Rood-Witte Gladiatoren sit ninth in the standings, eight points behind Utrecht in the battle for continental football.
Off the back of a first home win in 2024 in their most recent home outing, Saturday's hosts will be aiming to get the job done in front of their fans once again.
Team News
Sem Westerveld remains sidelined with a long-term knee injury, and the Dutchman is still a considerable way off making his return to action for AZ.
Riechedly Bazoer is also unavailable for the away side as he serves a one game suspension, while Lewis Schouten misses out with a knock.
Sparta's Jonathan de Guzman will be expected to make an immediate return to the starting lineup having completed his ban for five yellow cards last time out.
Twenty-three-year-old Sergi Rosanas Moragas is still awaiting his league debut for the home side since signing from Barcelona B in the summer.
Sparta Rotterdam possible starting lineup:
Olij; Van der Kust, Eerdhuijzen, Vriends, Bakari; De Guzman, Kitolano; Saito, Verschueren, Mito; Lauritsen
AZ Alkmaar possible starting lineup:
Ryan; Sugawara, Goes, Bazoer, Wolfe; Clasie, De Wit, Belic; Mijnans, Pavlidis, Van Bommel
We say: Sparta Rotterdam 1-2 AZ Alkmaar
Sparta have struggled for goals of late, but we can see them finding the back of the net here. That said, we are backing AZ Alkmaar to come away with maximum points at the end of the 90 minutes.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Adepoju Marvellous
