AZ Alkmaar will be aiming to close the gap between themselves and the top two as they host relegation-threatened Willem II on Sunday.

Sixteenth-placed Willem II find themselves just one point off the automatic drop zone and are in woeful form ahead of this fixture.

Match preview

AZ endured a stuttering start to the Eredivisie season, drawing each of their first five league games as they slipped off the pace.

They also received three red cards in those five games, and have been shown two more in the six games that followed as discipline proves to be a real issue.

However, Arne Slot's men have won five of their last six league games as they do their best to make up for their stuttering start to the campaign.

Losing their Champions League qualifier 2-0 against Dynamo Kiev saw AZ drop into the Europa League. They started their group-stage campaign well, but tapered off and ended up finishing third.

Their exit from European competition leaves them with no more distractions and enables them to focus solely on domestic football.

That bodes poorly for Willem II, who already find themselves in a dire situation, having won just twice so far this season.

Adrie Koster's side find themselves 16th and occupying the relegation playoff position after 12 games and are in very poor form.

They accrued four points from their first three league games, but have picked up just another four in the nine fixtures that followed.

AZ will prove a difficult challenge for the struggling outfit as they look to turn their season around.

AZ Eredivisie form: WWWWLW
AZ form (all competitions): DWDLLW

Willem II Eredivisie form: LLWLLL

Team News

AZ boss Slot has a number of injury problems ahead of Sunday's fixture.

Dani De Wit, Bruno Martins Indi, Jonas Svensson, Jordy Clasie and Ron Vlaar are all out and the quintet will not all be back until the end of January.

Willem II head coach Koster, however, has a much kinder injury list to contend with.

Elton Kabangu is back in training after being out due to COVID-19, while Dries Saddiki is a doubt with injury.

Both have the potential to feature, however, and the rest of the squad is fully fit.

AZ possible starting lineup:
Bizot; Sugawara, Hatzidiakos, Letschert, Wijndal; Reijnders, Stengs, Koopmeiners; Aboukhal, Boadu, Karlsson

Willem II possible starting lineup:
Ruiter; Owusu, Heerkens, Peters, Kohn; Saglam, Van der Heijden, Ndayishimiye; Nunnely, Pavlidis, Kohlert

We say: AZ 2-1 Willem II

AZ are in great form and are clear favourites to beat struggling Willem II, especially at home. However, they do not have a habit of racking up big scorelines and could win by just a narrow margin.

Top betting tip