- 1 Feyenoord vs AZ Alkmaar: the leaders walk into the one ground they can’t crack
- 2 Feyenoord: 25 goals in seven games and finally winning at home
- 3 AZ Alkmaar: top of the table, but six straight visits to De Kuip without a win
- 4 Free Football Prediction: Feyenoord vs AZ Alkmaar
- 5 About our free predictions
- 6 No commitment from us
- 7 Information changes
- 8 Your responsibility
- 9 Responsible gambling
- 10 Legal age
- 11 About visuals
Feyenoord vs AZ Alkmaar: the leaders walk into the one ground they can’t crack 
Seven games in, neither of these sides has lost an Eredivisie match. AZ sit top on 19 points, Feyenoord are two behind on 17, and on Saturday at De Kuip (kick-off 18:45 Paris time) one of those unbeaten records could finally give way.
Here’s the context that matters most. AZ haven’t won in Rotterdam in their last six visits. Across the last ten meetings in all competitions, Feyenoord have won seven and AZ just one. The table says AZ are the team to beat. The history says something rather different.
Both clubs come in fresh after a three-week international break, which wipes away some of the short-term momentum. But not all of it. Feyenoord went into the pause on the back of a 7-0 win at PEC Zwolle and a 5-0 thrashing of FC Utrecht, the kind of fortnight that tells you a squad has found its rhythm.
AZ have been steadier than spectacular. Six wins and a draw, 18 goals scored and only six conceded, and a run of 13 league matches without defeat stretching back into last season. That’s a side that knows what it’s about.
So what decides it? Probably the gap in firepower. Feyenoord have scored 25 league goals already, seven more than anyone else, and they’ve got four different players on four goals or more. AZ will need to be at their very best defensively to keep that quiet for 90 minutes.
It’s a genuine top-of-the-table game, and a win for the hosts would send them top. That alone should shape how both coaches set up.
Feyenoord: 25 goals in seven games and finally winning at home 
For a while, De Kuip was a problem. Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s side drew 2-2 with Go Ahead Eagles and then 2-2 with ADO Den Haag in their first two home league games, while the away results kept them in touch. The 5-0 win over Utrecht before the break was the first home league win of his second spell in charge.
Away from home, they’ve been ruthless. A 5-2 win at Cambuur, 3-1 at NEC and that 7-0 at Zwolle. Fifteen goals in three trips.
The attacking spread is what makes them so hard to plan for. Gjivai Zechiel, freshly called up by the Netherlands, has five league goals and four assists. Anis Hadj Moussa scored five times in his last three league appearances before the break. Luciano Valente and summer signing Nacho Ferri have four goals apiece. Shut one door and another opens.
There’s a caveat worth noting. Feyenoord’s one defeat this season came in the Champions League, a 5-1 loss in Barcelona, and their back line can be got at when a side moves the ball quickly. Jakub Moder is still out with his knee injury, so the midfield options are a little thinner than Van Bronckhorst would like.
Still, this is a team unbeaten in 11 home matches, and the 2-2 draws now look more like early-season wobbles than a pattern. Can AZ really shut this lot out? It’s hard to see it.
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AZ Alkmaar: top of the table, but six straight visits to De Kuip without a win 
Credit where it’s due. AZ took over at the summit when PSV threw away a 2-1 lead and lost 3-2 at FC Twente, and they’ve done it by grinding out results. They beat Telstar 1-0 in their last game before the break, after a 1-1 draw with Willem II. Not glamorous. Effective, though.
The goals are shared around. Ro-Zangelo Daal has four in the league, Mexx Meerdink three, and the 5-2 win over Go Ahead Eagles showed they can open up when the game allows it. Six conceded in seven matches is the second piece of the puzzle.
Peer Koopmeiners is the player who makes it tick. He rarely scores, but he’s completed 351 passes in the opposition half, found a teammate with 232 passes into the final third and won the ball back 40 times. If AZ are going to control any part of this game, it’ll run through him.
The problem is the venue. AZ’s last win in Rotterdam came in January 2021, and their last victory over Feyenoord anywhere was in February 2024. The 1-1 draw at De Kuip in May ended a run of five defeats in six visits, but a draw isn’t a win, and that record makes for uncomfortable reading.
Stije Resink is out with a knee problem until late in the year, and the 1-0 Europa League defeat at Sunderland showed this side can look short of ideas against an organised opponent. They’ll arrive confident. They’ll need more than that.
Probable lineup Feyenoord: Ernst; Read, Marmol, St Juste, Lopez; Zechiel, Vanhoutte, Targhalline; Hadj Moussa, Ferri, Valente
Probable lineup AZ Alkmaar: De Busser; Dijkstra, Goes, Schouten, Chavez; Kwakman, Koopmeiners; Oufkir, Byskov, Daal; Meerdink
Free Football Prediction: Feyenoord vs AZ Alkmaar
Our prediction: Feyenoord to win (odds 1.80)
The numbers lean one way. Feyenoord have the best attack in the division by a distance, they’re unbeaten in 11 home games, and they face a visitor that hasn’t won in Rotterdam in six attempts. Seven wins from the last ten meetings isn’t a coincidence.
AZ’s defence has been sound, but they haven’t faced an attack with this many outlets yet. Zechiel, Hadj Moussa, Valente and Ferri can all hurt them, and the hosts only need one of them to have a good evening.
A draw wouldn’t be a shock, given how tight these two were last season. But at 1.80, the home win is the call. Feyenoord should go top on Saturday night.
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