Ace Football Team previews the Eredivisie playoff semi-final between SC Heerenveen and AZ Alkmaar who meet up this coming Thursday. The pre-match analysis includes the latest team stats, match history and the best betting tips.
Eredivisie sides Heerenveen and AZ Alkmaar square off on Thursday for the first leg of a European playoff semi-final at the Abe Lenstra Stadion.
Position in the Eredivisie table: SC Heerenveen vs AZ Alkmaar
The two clubs finished the regular season 20 points apart in the Eredivisie standings after 34 matches. AZ Alkmaar finished in fifth, three spots above the eighth-placed Heerenveen.
Current form and fixture history of SC Heerenveen vs AZ Alkmaar
SC Heerenveen struggling for consistency
SC Heerenveen are a bit back and forth at the moment, but at least mostly forth, as they beat Vitesse by 2-1. Following that up proved too difficult, as they lost 5-0 against Ajax, before claiming 3 points in a 3-1 win against Go Ahead Eagles.
AZ Alkmaar hope to bounce back
It is not all bad, but it is not fantastic either for AZ Alkmaar right now, with just 2 points from their last 3 matches. They first drew 2-2 against Ajax, followed by another draw. This time it ended 2-2 against FC Utrecht, before going down in a 1-3 defeat against RKC Waalwijk.
Fixture history: SC Heerenveen vs AZ Alkmaar
The last time the two teams faced off against each other, AZ Alkmaar came away as 2-1 winners. It was a match played at AFAS Stadion back in April 2022 in the Eredivisie. This time around, betting on AZ Alkmaar will get you odds 1.95, meaning the bookies predict, they are in with a 51% chance of beating SC Heerenveen. You can get a price of 3.80, should you wish to add SC Heerenveen to your accumulator, if that is your preferred betting strategy.
Highlights from the last match between SC Heerenveen and AZ Alkmaar:
Betting stats and facts for SC Heerenveen and AZ Alkmaar
Here are some facts that might be useful for placing bets on the upcoming game between SC Heerenveen and AZ Alkmaar. The facts are based on statistics from the last couple of matches that these teams played across all tournaments.
- In 6 of the last 7 matches SC Heerenveen played, both teams scored
- In the last 3 home matches in a row SC Heerenveen played, both teams scored
- SC Heerenveen have not lost the last 5 home matches in a row
- In 10 of the last 11 away matches AZ Alkmaar played, both teams scored
- AZ Alkmaar have not lost 13 of the last 15 away matches
- In 13 of the last 15 matches SC Heerenveen versus AZ Alkmaar played, both teams scored
- In 14 of the last 15 SC Heerenveen matches versus AZ Alkmaar the sum of goals was over 2.5
Players to watch in SC Heerenveen vs AZ Alkmaar
Sydney van Hooijdonk has been the most prolific scorer for the home team recently. Surely, SC Heerenveen will be relying on him to once again shine in their upcoming match. Meanwhile, AZ Alkmaar will be looking to Evangelos Pavlidis in the hope that he will add more goals to his current total of 5 goals in his last 6 games.
Best tips for the match: SC Heerenveen vs AZ Alkmaar
To sum up, the upcoming Eredivisie clash seems to be a good opportunity to place some bets. Taking into account the statements from above, we have come up with the main prediction for this match as well as some alternative betting tips.