Dutch EreDivision
2008-09-27 - Willem II vs AZ Alkmaar
A Sports Betting Pick by Erik
Netherlands, Eredivisie
Saturday 27th September 2008 - KO 19:45
Willem II Tilburg
Willem II had a good start of the season beating Ajax 2-1 in their first game thanks to goals from Demouge and Akgun. Also their second game was quite successful winning 3-1 on the road to NAC Breda in a derby game which hugely boosted the confidence of the team with again Demouge finding his name back on the score sheet.
Last week Willem II suffered their first defeat of the season losing 1-0 on the road to FC Utrecht after playing a poor first half but taking control of the game in the second half. With FC Utrecht having opened the score in the first half, Willem II was unable to pull one goal back with the team dropping their first points of the season.
AZ ALKMAAR
AZ booked their first win of the season last week beating the Dutch champions PSV 1-0 at home thanks to a goal from Martens eight minutes from time. AZ started the match with great eagerness and despite creating some more than decent chances the hosts did not manage to open the score.
In the second half AZ increased the pressure on the goal of PSV but both Dembele and El Hamdaoui failed in netting the ball behind PSV goalkeeper Isaksson.
With just eight minutes remaining AZ grabbed the deserved lead with Martens chipping the ball over the PSV goalkeeper to give AZ their first three points of the season.
Previous meetings
25/01/2008 Willem II - AZ Alkmaar 3-0
24/11/2007 AZ Alkmaar - Willem II 2-0
10/02/2007 AZ Alkmaar - Wilelm II 2-0
26/10/2006 Willem II - AZ Alkmaar 0-4
12/03/2006 Willem II - AZ Alkmaar 1-3
23/10/2005 AZ Alkmaar - Willem II 5-1
27/02/2005 Willem II - AZ Alkmaar 1-3
25/09/2004 AZ Alkmaar - Willem II 3-1
Willem II and AZ played each other eleven times in the last eleven seasons in Tilburg resulting in 5 wins for the home side, 3 for AZ and 4 times the match ended in a draw.
To put a little note to this, AZ grabbed their three wins in their last four meetings after the financial injection of the club a few years ago by Dirk Scheringa.
Injuries/suspensions
Willem II : Angelo Martha (def) (injury), Arjan Swinkels (def) (ankle injury), George Mourad (att) (broken nose, doubtful), Ibad Muhamadu (att) (hamstring)
AZ Alkmaar : Gijs Luirink (def) (knee injury), Sebastian Pocognoli (def) (injury)
The Verdict
Three points from three games is not exactly the start AZ had hoped for, certainly not after looking at the schedule in their first two games.
Losing 1-2 at home to NAC Breda despite being the better team over the full ninety minutes and suffering a very sensitive 3-0 defeat on the road to ADO Den Haag two weeks later.
However, it has to be said that AZ was very unlucky in both games and especially against ADO Den Haag a poor decision from the referee just before halftime reduced the visitors to ten men after dominating the biggest part of the first half with Holman being sent off.
Against PSV last week AZ showed to be capable of playing very good football, dominating the biggest part of the game and also during their midweek cup game against Heracles Almelo (3-0) the team showed to be back on track.
Willem II booked an impressive 2-1 win over Ajax in the first round with the team profiting from a mistake in the organization of Ajax after a corner kick with Akgun scoring the winning goal from a scrimmage ten minutes later.
Against NAC Breda I thought that Willem II played a good game but the hosts dominated the match in the first half and it could be called a small miracle that NAC Breda did not find the net. With Willem II proving to be highly efficient the team scored three times in the second half thanks to Demouge and Muhamadu.
Against FC Utrecht last week Willem II did not look very sharp in the first half, but the attitude of the team changed in the final forty-five minutes. However, Willem II did not manage to score the liberating equalizer and also struggled against the amateurs of Quick Boys in the Dutch Cup last week losing striker Muhamadu with a hamstring injury.
When looking at the results between Willem II and AZ over the last few years we can see that AZ has by far the better record. Altough the selection of team manager Van Gaal has been struggling over the last few months, the recent wins against PSV and Heracles Almelo were impressive and showed that AZ is on the way back.
Prices for the away win can be found up to $2.40 and these seem definitely worth taking if AZ can keep up the play of the last two weeks.
A safer option might be to take AZ on the DNB $1.70 or the X2 $1.45 option, but for me $2.40 is too good to miss!
BEST BETTING TIP :
Take AZ Alkmaar to win $2.40
