AZ Alkmaar vs Vitesse Prediction, Odds & Betting Tips 30/03/2024

Vitesse Arnhem have eight games left to save their season, but three of them are against teams inside the top five of the Eredivisie, starting with AZ Alkmaar on Saturday who need the points to maintain their place in the top four.

AZ Alkmaar vs Vitesse prediction: Time running out in the Eredivisie for the visitors

Key stats

• AZ Alkmaar have scored 11 times in the last five meetings
• Vitesse have won one league game in 2024
• Vitesse have failed to keep an away clean sheet in the Eredivisie

Pre-game odds and win probability: AZ Alkmaar expected to have too much

Home: 2/7 (1.29) – 77.8%

Draw: 19/4 (5.75) – 17.4%

Away: 9/1 (10.0) – 10%

The bookmakers only see one winner in this game and that's the home side, AZ Alkmaar. With that being no surprise to anyone, we suggest looking at markets providing more sufficient value, which can be found within our free betting tips.

With club football returning this weekend we've dived into some first goalscorer predictions for the Premier League on our betting insights page. We'd advise you to do the same for this clash,e especially when the Eredivisie top scorer, Vangelis Pavlidis is going to be on the pitch.

Last five H2Hs: Vitesse have become the whipping boys

AZ Alkmaar have dominated this fixture over the past few years winning three of the last five, with Vitesse only managing to win once back in May 2022. Since that sole victory, Vitesse have failed to score more than one goal in a single match.

AZ Alkmaar preview: A potential banana skin

AZ Alkmaar will have their sights firmly set on securing a Europa League spot for next season, although playing in the Europa Conference League wouldn't be a disaster. To do that, they must avoid a slip-up against Vitesse who are fighting for their life.

Predicted lineup: Ryan (GK) – Wolfe, Bazoer, Goes, Sugawara – Clasie, Belic – Van Bommel, De Wit, Mijnans – Pavlidis

Vitesse preview: Must-not-lose clash

Vitesse find themselves staring down the barrel of relegation come the end of the season sitting five points away from safety and just eight games left to play. They also have a much worse goal difference, so everything is starting to pile up against them.

Predicted lineup: Room (GK) – Mica Pinto, Hendriks, Isimat-Mirin, Arcus – Tielemans, Aaronson – Van Ginkel, Meerdink, Hadj Moussa

Player to watch: Yukinari Sugawara

It's not very often that a left-back is one of his team's best and most important attacking players, but that's been the case this season with Yukinari Sugawara. The Japanese international has three goals and five assists in the Eredivisie alone.

Goals and assists on the cards?

Sugawara now has three goals and one assist in his last three league matches, so the international break probably came at the wrong time for him and his form. However, it certainly wasn't a purple patch because he sits second within the squad for shot-creating actions, only behind Pavlidis, so against a relegation contender, expect Sugawara to be flying up and down the right-hand side.