I hope you're ready to dive into this Eredivisie matchup. The teams taking the field today will be AZ Alkmaar and FC Utrecht.
As far as goalkeepers go, AZ Alkmaar has Rome Jayden Owusu-Oduro with a 6.90 rating and 7 saves. On the other side of the pitch, FC Utrecht will be relying on Vasilis Barkas who boasts a 7.35 rating and also has 7 saves under his belt.
Moving on to the infantry, FC Utrecht has some solid players to call upon, all with commendable stats from Souffian El Karouani to Mike van der Hoorn. Particularly of interest should be Can Bozdoğan and Jens Toornstra who have put a goal apiece in the net and maintained over 80% passing accuracy.
However, don't expect AZ Alkmaar to be easily intimidated. Top lads like Ibrahim Sadiq and Troy Parrott have managed superb ratings with Sadiq, in particular, scoring 3 goals.
Reflecting back on previous engagements between these two teams, their battles have always been drawn out affairs. Their last three matches ended in a stalemate, each team scoring an equal number of goals.
Analyzing their recent regular season records, FC Utrecht had a respectable 4-1-0 run. But, AZ Alkmaar eclipses that with a sterling record of their own at 5-1-0. Both teams have been victorious in their recent games, though AZ Alkmaar takes the cake with their jaw-dropping 9-1 domination over SC Heerenveen.
Even considering all those factors, none of us have a crystal ball. But let's put it this way, if I was a betting man, my money would be on AZ Alkmaar. And the margin? I'll plump for a whip-round two goal victory.
Albert’s Prediction: AZ Alkmaar by 2