🏏 Sat, 29 Aug 2026 18:45 CEST
AZ Alkmaar
vs
GO Ahead Eagles
4-2-3-1 vs 4-2-3-1
Substitutes
Substitutes
Match Preview
- Top meets second at just the fourth round of matches, with AZ Alkmaar leading on nine points from three wins and a plus-seven goal difference, and Go Ahead Eagles right behind on seven from two wins and a draw with a plus-five difference. Both remain unbeaten, and with PSV and Feyenoord also on seven points, the winner here takes clear control at the summit.
- AZ's numbers are startling: eight goals scored and just one conceded in three matches. They opened with a 2-0 home win over ADO Den Haag, then won 4-1 away at Utrecht and 2-0 away at Fortuna Sittard, handling back-to-back road trips without alarm. That single goal against is the meanest defensive record in the division so far.
- Go Ahead Eagles have actually outscored the leaders with nine goals. They thrashed Willem II 4-1 at home, then took a point from a 2-2 draw away at Feyenoord before beating ADO Den Haag 3-1 back in Deventer. The four goals they have shipped hint at some vulnerability, but drawing in Rotterdam shows this side can hurt anyone.
- The headline subplot is AZ goalkeeper Jari De Busser, 26, facing the club he left. The 190cm Belgian, who arrived in the Netherlands via Lommel SK, saved two penalties in the 2024-25 KNVB Cup final shootout to deliver Go Ahead Eagles their first ever cup triumph. Now he must deny many of those same team-mates. At the other end stands 190cm Norwegian Kjetil Haug, a Manchester City academy product who also spent time at Toulouse and Valerenga.
- The old-boy theme runs both ways. Go Ahead Eagles centre-back Joris Kramer, 30, came through the AZ academy and now organises the back line at 187cm, using his left foot to start attacks, and he too lifted the KNVB Cup in 2024-25. Waiting on the bench is another former AZ man, 191cm Suriname international target man Ricanel Margaret, 25.
- AZ have two Japanese defenders among the substitutes. Right-back Seiya Maikuma, 28, moved from V-Varen Nagasaki to Cerezo Osaka, was named in the 2023 J1 Best XI and has kept Son Heung-min quiet in a Europa League tie. Alongside him is 21-year-old centre-back Rion Ichihara, a 185cm ball-playing defender from the RB Omiya Ardija academy who made the 2025 J2 Best XI.
- Both teams line up in a 4-2-3-1, so the double pivots will decide who controls the tempo. AZ pair 186cm Peer Koopmeiners, younger brother of Juventus midfielder Teun and provider of seven assists in 34 games in 2024-25, with left-footed Brazilian Wesley Patati, formerly of Santos and Maccabi Tel Aviv. Go Ahead Eagles counter with 27-year-old Mees Muijlenstein, a Manchester United academy graduate who has played for Sampdoria, and 26-year-old box-to-box runner Evert Linthorst, a PSV product who debuted at VVV-Venlo.
- The attacks are stylistically different. AZ lean on homegrown youth: 23-year-old Mex Meerdink, son of former AZ player Martijn and scorer of two goals in the 2022-23 UEFA Youth League final, plus 21-year-old winger Rozangelo Daal, who scored against Fenerbahce in the Europa League. Go Ahead Eagles trust a Nordic core in 187cm Dane Soren Tengstedt, who scored 18 goals in 84 games for Silkeborg, 30-year-old Swede Victor Edvardsen and 21-year-old Norwegian Erik Flataker, formerly of AIK.
- AZ appear to hold the edge in late-game options. Jordy Clasie, 35, is a 169cm technician with 129 appearances for Feyenoord, Premier League experience at Southampton and 11 Netherlands caps, while Calvin Stengs has returned to his boyhood club after spells at Nice, Antwerp and Feyenoord, and Ies Hornkamp arrived after scoring 10 goals in 14 Eredivisie games in the first half of 2025-26. Go Ahead Eagles respond with 22-year-old Norwegian winger Oskar Sivertsen, an Eliteserien debutant at 16, and Belgian striker Thibo Baeten, a Club Brugge product with time at Torino.