DUTCH EREDIVISION BETTING PICK - AZ ALKMAAR V WILLEM II

Dutch EreDivision

2007-11-24 - AZ Alkmaar vs Willem II

A Sports Betting Pick by Erik

AZ Alkmaar
AZ is currently on the ninth place in the table with the team picking up fifteen points in their first eleven games and the team seems to be back on track after picking up a 1-1 draw on the road to PSV two weeks ago. With seven points from their last three games, AZ has shown to be up for the title battle again but the gap with the current leaders Ajax is already ten points and AZ will have to put up some remarkable results in order to close this gap. In their last home game AZ trashed NEC 4-0 thanks to goals from Cziommer (mid), Jaliens (def), Ari (att) and De Zeeuw (mid) and the team dominated the full ninety minutes. AZ will host the number sixteen in the ranking Willem II on Saturday and AZ will miss Luirink (def) and Martens (att) with longterm injuries while Didulica (gk) is on his way back from an injury. Musampa (mid) has been added to the selection of AZ during the last week with the midfielder being signed being unemployed at the moment and previously playing for Trabzonspor in Turkey after playing for Ajax in the past.

Willem II
Willem II has known a very poor season so far with the team currently occupying the sixteenth place in the ranking resulting in the dismissal of team manager Van Wijk three weeks ago. Two weeks ago the team suffered a heavy defeat at home to FC Utrecht (1-4) with the hosts once again not managing to book a good result with Willem II suffering their seventh defeat in their last nine games. Willem II will be traveling to Alkmaar on Saturday to meet with AZ and the team will be without Martha (att), Douglas (mid) and Valencia (def) with the latter being suspended. After picking up only six points in their last eleven games, an away game to AZ is not exactly the easiest moment to be looking for a result but the team has been given a small boost by the return of goalkeeper Aerts (gk) from injury.

Previous meetings
10/02/2007 AZ - Willem II 2-0
26/10/2006 Willem II - AZ 0-4
12/03/2006 Willem II - AZ 1-3
23/10/2005 AZ - Willem II 5-1
27/02/2005 Willem II - AZ 1-3
25/09/2004 AZ - Willem II 3-1
28/01/2004 AZ - Willem II 0-0
16/08/2003 Willem II - AZ 1-0
10/05/2003 AZ - Willem II 3-2
07/12/2002 Willem II - AZ 3-1

Verdict
To be very straightforward, anything else than a home win here would be a big surprise. AZ has managed to beat Willem II comfortable in their last six meetings and given the current form the team is in, the match on Saturday is not expected to be a tough one for the team of coach Van Gaal. AZ clearly showed their intentions of getting back in the top four of the ranking and to become a serious contender for the title again games like this should simply be won. Van Gaal is not the person to underestimate his opponent and I do not think Willem II will be able to suprise AZ here tonight. The main strength of AZ is their scoring abilities in all lines with also midfielders and defenders frequently getting on the score sheet and the home win will be my first bet for this round with full stakes.

The Pick :

BEST BETTING TIP :

AZ to win $1.29 (Betfred)