Fortuna Sittard vs AZ Alkmaar Predictions

Fortuna Sittard and AZ Alkmaar remain three points apart after both teams suffered defeats in the Eredivisie at the weekend, but with the home advantage in Friday nights game Fortuna Sittard will be hoping to leapfrog their guests by winning the match by two clear goals. AZ occupy eighth place heading into the game, and a win for the visitors could see them move into the top five. Fortuna Sittard sit tenth in the table and certainly looked best equipped of the newly promoted clubs to remain in the Eredivisie for at least one more season.

Fortuna Sittard made the trip to Heerenveen at the weekend where, despite having more of the overall possession and remaining a constant threat in the final third, the visitors ended up losing the game 3-1. The deadlock wasn’t broken until shortly before the half time break when Høegh made it 1-0 to Heerenveen after good work from Kobayashi. The disappointment of conceding late in the first half was clear to see on the faces of the Fortuna Sittard players and staff, but things got worse for the visitors just two minutes after the restart for the second half when Zeneli converted a penalty to make it 2-0.

The visitors responded really well and just one minute after going 2-0 down Lamprou halved the deficit and brought Fortuna Sittard right back into the match. Both teams created chances during the second half and Fortuna Sittard certainly could have got back onto level terms if it wasn’t for some poor finishing. However, the games fourth goal went the way of the hosts who made it 3-1 through van Amersfoort with just eleven minutes on the clock. Heerenveen looked dangerous from set-pieces and had more shots during the ninety minutes, so its hard to argue that Fortuna Sittard deserved anything from the match, but the visitors can take positives from this away performance as they caused their hosts plenty of issues in the final third.

Novakovich returned from injury against Heerenveen and with four goals the American striker joint top scores in the league for Fortuna Sittard alongside Stokkers. Friday’s hosts, unlike the other newly promoted clubs, have not struggled to score goals in the Eredivisie with twenty-seven scored in their fourteen games so far. Scoring goals is always the biggest issue when you get promoted to any top flight division, but a good defence is also key and Fortuna Sittard have both and will be aiming for a comfortable mid table finish this season.

AZ Alkmaar’s defence let them down at the weekend when Willem II provided the opposition at the AFAS Stadion, where two first half goals proved enough for the visitors to claim a precious away win. Spanish striker Fran Sol has certainly found his calling in the Eredivisie and, after last season, it was a surprise that one of the leagues bigger clubs didn’t come in for the former Villarreal man’s services. Sol opened the scoring against AZ in the third minute and doubled his and Willem II’s tally on the half hour mark.

The hosts dominated possession with 72%, had far more corners, and more shots than their guests, but lacked that killer instinct in the final third and when they did test Wellenreuther in the Willem II goal the German shot stopper was equal to everything the AZ attackers could throw at him. With five league goals this season Idrissi remains AZ’s top scorer heading into Friday’s game and the 22-year old former Groningen man needs one more goal to beat his best ever goals tally in a single season.

Both teams have won three of their last six matches and with the hosts looking at their best in their own backyard and the visitors strong on the road in recent weeks were expecting a close match on Friday. Over 2.5 goals have been scored in three of the last four meetings between Fortuna Sittard and AZ Alkmaar, including their 2015 friendly that ended in a huge 5-0 victory for AZ. All of the hosts last six matches have produced over 2.5 goals and we’re expecting more of the same on Friday night.

We’re confident that both teams will score and that over 2.5 goals will be produced, and have backed the final scoreline to finish 2-2. Fortuna Sittard haven’t failed to score in any of their last six matches, while AZ have only failed to score in one game during that same period. Both teams have scored in four of Fortuna Sittard’s last six matches, and last season both teams score when when the two clubs met in the KNVB Beker.