On Sunday night, Sparta Rotterdam hosts AZ Alkmaar at the Stadion Het Kasteel in an Eredivisie game that could be crucial to both team’s chances of European football next season.
Sparta’s European hopes have been damaged by poor runThe home team will be looking to get their season back on track after a poor recent run of form in the Dutch top flight. A 2-0 defeat at NEC last time out means that Sparta has lost three of their previous four league games without scoring in any of the losses.
The recent poor run of form has led to Sparta Rotterdam falling to ninth place in the table, three points off the league’s top eight.
Sparta’s recent home record in the Eredivisie has been poor, as they have lost four of their last six league games. However, a 4-2 win over Excelsior in their previous home match ended a five-game winless home run.
AZ is looking to stretch their unbeaten runThe visitors are in good form in the Dutch top-flight, as they are unbeaten in three Eredivisie games, having recorded back-to-back wins over Fortuna Sittard and Ajax.
The game against the latter continued a low-scoring run of games for AZ, as three of their last four Eredivisie games have produced under 2.5 goals.
The recent stellar run of form has contributed to AZ’s position of fourth place in the table, occupying the Europa League play-off spot.
Maarten Mertens's team have been poor travellers of late in the Dutch top flight, as they have won just one of their last seven away games in the Eredivisie.
However, they ended a six-game winless run on their travels with the victory over Fortuna Sittard in their last away outing.
What am I backing?Neither team has been in great form of late in the Eredivisie, and this could be a low-scoring encounter. Therefore, the bet I am backing is under 2.5 goals scored.
