🏏 Sun, 20 Sep 2026 14:30 CEST
AZ Alkmaar
vs
Telstar
4-2-3-1 vs 3-4-2-1
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Match Preview
- AZ are third with 16 points from six matches, the only side still unbeaten at 5-1-0, and their 17 goals scored against six conceded gives them a +11 goal difference. They are level on points with PSV and one behind leaders Feyenoord, who have played seven. The warning sign is round six, when bottom club Willem II (two points) held them to a 1-1 draw at home — a repeat slip against a promoted side would be costly.
- Telstar come in 12th on five points from six games, having scored five and conceded 11. They were overwhelmed 0-4 at home by Ajax in round four but dug out a goalless draw away at Heerenveen last time out. With Sparta Rotterdam, Cambuur and Utrecht all on the same five points, learning how to survive matches against the top three is central to their survival plan.
- Japan international Seiya Maikuma starts on the bench. The 28-year-old right-back moved from V-Varen Nagasaki to Cerezo Osaka, where he was named in the 2023 J1 Best XI, and at AZ he has already kept Tottenham's Son Heung-min quiet in the Europa League. With 20-year-old Elijah Dijkstra starting at right-back, Maikuma looms as the man to settle things down whether AZ are chasing more goals or protecting a lead.
- The shape battle pits AZ's 4-2-3-1 against Telstar's 3-4-2-1. AZ pair 186cm holding midfielder Peer Koopmeiners — younger brother of Juventus midfielder Teun and a provider of seven assists in 34 games in 2024-25 — with 22-year-old Dave Kwakman, while Telstar pack four across the middle in 31-year-old Jeff Hardeveld, Tyrone Owusu, 27, and the 21-year-olds Nils Rossen and Gerald Alders. Whoever wins that zone sets the tone.
- In the Telstar goal stands Ronald Koeman Jr., the 31-year-old son of the Netherlands head coach. Born in Barcelona, he joined in 2021 after spells at Almere City and TOP Oss and was voted the club's player of the year as they returned to the Eredivisie after 47 seasons away. The 188cm keeper is known for his distribution and composure, and he will need every bit of it against an AZ side who have scored 17 times in six league games.
- AZ lead the line with 23-year-old Mexx Meerdink, whose father Martijn also played for the club. He scored twice in the 2022-23 UEFA Youth League final as AZ won 5-0 and later collected the club's goal of the season award for a finish described as Bergkamp-esque. His link-up with 21-year-old academy winger Ro-Zangelo Daal, who opened the scoring against Fenerbahce in the Europa League, is worth watching.
- Calvin Stengs is the creative hub. The 27-year-old Netherlands international came through the AZ academy before spells at Nice, Antwerp and Feyenoord, and his right-footed final ball is the team's most dangerous weapon. Telstar's back three inevitably leaves gaps outside the wide centre-backs, and if Stengs can slide passes into the channel between defender and wing-back, AZ will take control quickly.
- Telstar's route back is the counter. Jelani Seedorf, the 22-year-old striker and nephew of former Netherlands great Clarence Seedorf, was developed at Sparta Rotterdam and has also played for Excelsior, and he is capable of both scoring and creating. Alongside him, 26-year-old Rui Mendes — Portuguese-born but raised in Germany — scored 15 goals in the Eerste Divisie with Emmen to drive their promotion, and his pace on the right will target the space behind AZ's back line.
- AZ's bench is a different level of resource. Jordy Clasie, 35, with 11 caps for the Netherlands, 129 appearances for Feyenoord and Premier League experience at Southampton, waits to lock down midfield. Up front they can call on Jizz Hornkamp, signed for around 4.5 million euros after scoring 10 goals in 14 Eredivisie games in the first half of 2025-26, and 20-year-old winger Ayoub Oufkir, a roughly five million euro buy from Sparta Rotterdam.
- Telstar's back three features 24-year-old S. Valk at 195cm, Frenchman Abdelnour Soualhia, 25, and 35-year-old Marvin Peersman. The Antwerp-born Belgian has played for Cambuur and Groningen in the Netherlands as well as Hapoel Tel Aviv in Israel and PAS Giannina and Aris Thessaloniki in Greece, joining Telstar on a free transfer in the summer of 2026. His organisation and aerial presence at set pieces will be vital if the visitors are to weather the pressure.