Preview: SBV Excelsior vs. AZ Alkmaar - prediction, team news, lineups

Meanwhile, the away side make the trip to Rotterdam aiming to get themselves back on track having recently seen their winning run come to an end.

Match preview

AZ Alkmaar were beaten for the first time in seven matches on Thursday when they fell to a 4-1 Conference League defeat against Aston Villa at the AFAS Stadion.

Goals from Leon Bailey, Youri Tielemans, Ollie Watkins and John McGinn left Pascal Jansen's men down and buried before Ibrahim Sadiq grabbed a consolation strike 20 minutes into the second half.

This came off the back of a 3-0 win over Heerenveen for AZ which saw them move up to second place in the Eredivisie table, five points behind PSV Eindhoven.

Awaiting them next is the challenge of an opposing outfit who have been emphatically beaten in the last two editions of this fixture by a combined score of 9-1.

One of two teams still with a perfect record on the road this term, Saturday's visitors now go in search of a fifth straight league triumph away from home.

Excelsior snapped a run of three games without a win by beating Den Bosch 2-1 in Wednesday's KNVB-Beker meeting at the De Vliert Stadium.

Marinus Dijkhuizen's men opened the scoring eight minutes before half time through Siebe Horemans but were pegged back by Jaron Vicario after which Julian Baas decided the tie from the penalty spot.

Prior to that, De Roodzwarten fell to a 3-1 defeat against FC Volendam and currently sit seventh in the standings after the first 10 rounds of matches.

Having recently seen their seven-game unbeaten run on home turf come to an end, Saturday's hosts will be keen to avoid suffering back to back losses in front of their fans for the first time since March.

SBV Excelsior Eredivisie form:

D

W

W

D

L

L

AZ Alkmaar Eredivisie form:

W

W

D

W

W

W

AZ Alkmaar form (all competitions):

D

W

W

W

W

L

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Team News

Lennard Hartjes and Jacky Donkor are both ruled out for Excelsior with knee injuries, while Kik Pierie misses out with a foot problem.

The home side will also be without the services of Dutchman Raphael Eyongo who is yet to feature since July due to an ankle injury.

AZ Alkmaar's Mexx Meerdink is still nursing a shoulder problem but the forward is drawing increasingly closer to returning to action.

Mees de Wit is yet to fully recuperate from a long-term foot injury and the 25-year-old is joined on the sidelines by Lewis Schouten.

SBV Excelsior possible starting lineup:

Van Gassel; Zagre, Nieuwpoort, Widell. Horemans; Sandra, El Yaakoubi, Baas; Driouech, Agrafiotis, Lamprou

AZ Alkmaar possible starting lineup:

Ryan; Wolfe, Penetra, Bazoer, Sugawara; Mijnans, Clasie; Lahdo, De Wit, Van Brederode; Pavlidis

We say: SBV Excelsior 1-3 AZ Alkmaar

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