🏏 Sat, 8 Aug 2026 21:00 CEST
AZ Alkmaar
vs
ADO Den Haag
4-2-3-1 vs 4-4-2
Substitutes
Substitutes
Match Preview
- AZ open the Eredivisie season at home in a 4-2-3-1 against ADO Den Haag's 4-4-2. Peer Koopmeiners (26, 1.86m), younger brother of Juventus midfielder Teun, anchors the pivot after posting seven assists in 34 appearances in 2024-25, with 1.84m D. Kwakman (22) beside him. ADO's flat four in midfield, built around Finland's Juho Kilo and F. de Bruin, means the fight for central control will set the tone.
- Kees Smit lines up at number 10 even though he is a defensive midfielder by trade. The 20-year-old joined the AZ academy at nine, turned professional with Jong AZ in 2023 and has already been capped at senior level by the Netherlands. Deploying a player known for duelling intensity and rapid transitions after regains in an advanced role hints at an aggressive AZ press on ADO's midfield quartet.
- The goalkeeping pecking order is worth watching from the opening whistle. Belgian Jari de Busser (26, 1.90m) starts, a year after saving two spot-kicks in the 2024-25 KNVB Cup final shoot-out to deliver Go Ahead Eagles the first cup in their history. R. Owusu-Oduro (22), who succeeded Mathew Ryan as AZ's first choice in 2023-24 and gained Conference League experience, begins on the bench.
- Both AZ wingers like to cut inside, which puts ADO's back line into repeated one-v-one duels. Left-footed Brazilian Weslley Patati (22, 1.73m) came through Santos and gained European mileage on loan at Maccabi Tel Aviv before joining, and attacks from the right to shoot with his stronger foot. On the opposite flank, Rosanhero Daal (21, 1.73m) has already opened the scoring against Fenerbahce in the Europa League.
- AZ's full-backs bring contrasting backgrounds. On the left, Mateo Chavez (22) is the first Mexican at the club since Hector Moreno, arriving from Guadalajara with 26 Liga MX starts behind him and an assist on his Eredivisie debut off his left-footed delivery. On the right, 20-year-old Elijah Dijkstra (1.72m) joined the academy from Fortuna Wormerveer in 2019 and only made his senior bow in the 2025 KNVB Cup.
- Height could shape plenty of the key moments. ADO push 1.93m Yannick Fereira Eduardo (20, Czech, previously at RB Leipzig and Hoffenheim) up front and pair 1.89m Matteo Waem with Feyenoord product Milan Hokke, 1.90m, at the back. AZ counter with a young centre-back duo of 1.91m L. Schouten and 1.87m Wouter Goes, both 22 and both comfortable stepping into the build-up.
- Two Japanese players are among the AZ substitutes. Rion Ichihara (21, 1.85m) is a centre-back rated as the finest product of the RB Omiya Ardija academy, strong in the air and trusted to break lines with vertical passes, and he was named in the 2025 J2 Best XI. Right-back Seiya Maikuma (28) was a 2023 J1 Best XI pick at Cerezo Osaka and a Japan international who kept Son Heung-min quiet in a Europa League tie against Tottenham.
- AZ's bench carries genuine weight for a season opener. Republic of Ireland striker Troy Parrott (24, 1.85m), a Tottenham academy graduate, broke through with 17 goals at Excelsior. Calvin Stengs (27) is back at his former club after spells with Nice, Antwerp and Feyenoord, and 20-year-old Ayoub Oufkir (1.70m), signed from Sparta Rotterdam for around five million euros, offers explosive pace from the right.
- ADO mix experience with youth. Daryl van Mieghem, 36 and just 1.70m tall, starts in midfield with a career spanning FC Volendam, Heracles and Excelsior behind him. Their bench also holds Red Bull Salzburg product Luka Reischl (22, Austria) and Mylian Jimenez (23), who came through the PSV academy and played for Aalborg before moving to Den Haag, giving the visitors options to change the rhythm.
- Centre-forward Mex Meerdink (23, 1.82m) carries a special connection to the club: his father Martijn also played for AZ. He scored twice in the 2022-23 UEFA Youth League final as AZ won it 5-0, and later collected the club's goal of the season award for a finish likened to Bergkamp. A loan spell at Vitesse added senior mileage that he can put to use on opening night.