AZ Alkmaar vs Heerenveen
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I like goals in this game a lot. AZ Alkmaar are incredibly attack-minded, especially at home, and that always leaves them scoring and conceding freely. Heerenveen aren’t as good at breaking teams down but they’re deadly on the break and they’ll have lots of opportunities to prove it today. That’s why I think this game will erupt in a frenzy of goals at some stage.
AZ Alkmaar’s main strength is their utter conviction that they can outscore any Dutch team. Sure, it lands them in hot water against the likes of PSV Eindhoven and AFC Ajax Amsterdam but most Eredivisie teams are fair game for AZ Alkmaar. They’ll never be the force their play intimates they’ll be because they don’t have the money for it. As soon as a player emerges at the club, they move on; that’s how it’s been for AZ Alkmaar for many years, and that’s how it’ll stay. This team retains a wonderful sense of itself though. There’s a real passion for good attacking football here and that’s what makes – in my opinion – AZ Alkmaar the most entertaining team in The Netherlands. They don’t have great players but they have good players and handfuls, not to mention that van den Brom is the perfect manager to lead them because of his ability to get the best out of young players. They’re a team to enjoy, AZ Alkmaar, and there’s a good chance that they’ll make this game enjoyable.
Heerenveen should contribute though. Like I said earlier, they don’t break teams down particularly well but if you let the likes of Odegaard, Rojas, Ghoochanejhad, and Thorsby operate on the break, they’re going to hurt their opponents. They’re only involved in high-scoring games against teams that attack them though – that’s the catch. Eredivisie teams can’t really bunker up, generally speaking, but a more cautious approach generally foxes Heerenveen a lot more than it should. AZ Alkmaar cannot and will not do that here though so I trust the northerners to make this game interesting.
I still think that AZ Alkmaar will win it, especially with Odegaard out for the visitors, but my pick is over 3 goals.
Verdict: Over 3 goals at 4/5.
Saturday’s Thoughts
As ever, if there are any explanations required then please feel free to post a comment! For the remainder of my thoughts on today’s games, see below, although I feel compelled to write that the below are not necessarily my tips but merely my thoughts to prevent endless questions about my thoughts on certain games. For confidence ratings, you’ll need to go to the members section here.
Australian A-League:
Wellington Phoenix vs Sydney FC
Melbourne City vs Melbourne Victory
Belgian Eerste Klasse:
Royal Excel Mouscron vs Zulte-Waregem
Racing Genk vs Kortrijk
Standard de Liege vs Sint-Truiden
English Premier League:
Everton vs Chelsea
Brighton & Hove Albion vs Watford
Manchester City vs Bournemouth
Southampton vs Huddersfield Town
Stoke City vs West Bromwich Albion
Swansea City vs Crystal Palace
West Ham United vs Newcastle United
Burnley vs Tottenham Hotspur
Leicester City vs Manchester United
Israeli Ligat Ha’al:
Hapoel Acre vs Maccabi Netanya
Bnei Yehuda Tel-Aviv vs Hapoel Ashkelon
Hapoel Haifa vs Maccabi Petah Tikva
Maccabi Tel-Aviv vs Ironi Kiryat Shmona
Italian Serie A:
SS Lazio vs Crotone
Genoa vs Benevento
SSC Napoli vs Sampdoria
Sassuolo vs Internazionale
SPAL vs Torino
Udinese vs Hellas Verona
AC Milan vs Atalanta Bergamo
Juventus vs AS Roma
Dutch Eredivisie:
NAC Breda vs FC Utrecht
AZ Alkmaar vs Heerenveen
PSV Eindhoven vs Vitesse Arnhem
Excelsior Rotterdam vs Twente Enschede
Portuguese Liga 1:
Vitoria Guimaraes vs Tondela
Spanish Primera Liga:
Real Madrid vs Barcelona CF
Valencia CF vs Villarreal CF
Deportivo La Coruna vs Celta de Vigo
Turkish Super Lig:
Bursaspor vs Genclerbirligi
Sivasspor vs Besiktas JK
Konyaspor vs Fenerbahce
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