AZ Alkmaar VS Willem II Match Prediction

AZ boast a clear and well defined head-to-head lead over Willem II; winning 16 of their 34 meetings (nine draws). From the 17 occasions they have welcomed Willem II to their home stadium, Alkmaar have only been beaten once.

The fact that they have scored 61 goals at a rate of almost two per game can also not be overlooked. 

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AZ Alkmaar vs Willem II: Prediction

AZ have well and truly got the wood on Willem II in matches played in Alkmaar, and there is no reason to suggest that pattern won’t change here. Sure, Willem somehow managed to beat Ajax on their travels a few weeks ago, but we would have to put that result down to an anomaly, rather than some huge improvement on their part. Last season they lost more than half of their away matches (nine of seventeen), and so clearly this is a team that struggles on the road.

No such worries for AZ on their home turf: they have won 8/10 there in 2016 so far, with their only defeat coming at the hands of last season’s champions PSV. Their brilliance on their own patch should prove decisive here.

AZ Alkmaar vs Willem II Betting Tips

On eight of the last ten occasions that AZ have welcomed Willem II to Alkmaar, they have gone on to win by a margin of two goals or more. So while their price of 4/9 to win this match is justified (yet prohibitively short), we can take the -1 handicap in their favour with some confidence at 6/5.

We’re still waiting for prevailing trends to reveal themselves in the Eredivisie this season – we have only four gameweeks to work with after all – so we have to riff on the match result markets. For value, backing AZ in the half time/full time market at 5/4 appears of interest.

A decent enough start to the campaign for AZ so far in Eredivisie, and after a frustrating beginning which saw them draw 2-2 with Heerenveen and come away from Eindhoven with a narrow 0-1 defeat, two wins on the spin has returned the good vibes to Alkmaar.

AZ Alkmaar likely XI:

If the 2015/16 campaign was a struggle for Willem II, then this term looks set to be no different. They avoided relegation via the play-off system last season, and while a win over Ajax was as surprising as it was needed, two heavy defeats prior to that against Heracles and Vitesse are an indictment of where this side is at. 

Willem II likely XI:

It\'s early days in the Eredivisie and so teams are still feeling each other out, but all of the statistics suggest a comfortable victory for AZ here. They dominate Willem II on home soil – in fact, they dominate most teams on their own patch – and the visitors are rarely good enough to trouble; that bizarre win over Ajax aside. Also, AZ have the look and feel of a top four side about them, so they really should be able to repeat last season\'s heroics, while Willem II appear to be battling the inevitable once again. For that reason, backing the home side is a no brainer.

There are a lot of key stats in this game to consider, and all are of benefit to AZ backers. Perhaps the one we enjoy the most is that 80% of fixtures played between these two in Alkmaar in recent times have seen the hosts win by two clear goals or more.