AZ Alkmaar are in a poor run in the league and will hope to turn things around when they host FC Groningen in the Eredivisie at the AFAS Stadion on Sunday.

Sitting fifth in the Eredivisie table, AZ have lost three in a row in all competitions and taken one point from their last four league games, but eighth-placed Groningen have conceded 12 goals in three games against the current top four, which hands the Cheese Farmers a real chance to end their slump.

Match preview

Leeroy Echteld’s side lost 2-0 to Twente on October 25, 1-0 at Ajax on October 31 and 2-1 to Juventus on November 5, and their only goal in those three games was Mexx Meerdink’s 88th-minute finish in the Europa League.

The Ajax defeat came despite 20 shots to nine and 2.30 expected goals to 0.72, and Echteld said AZ’s data has never been this strong while the games against Feyenoord, Twente, Ajax and Juventus have brought no points.

Both Juventus goals followed AZ errors, as poor defending on the right let Randal Kolo Muani escape before Teun Koopmeiners’s 19th-minute strike and Mees de Wit lost the ball before Kolo Muani scored on 37 minutes, ending AZ’s 17-match unbeaten run in European home games.

It is a sharp turn from August, when Echteld won the first Rinus Michels Coach of the Month award of the season after AZ became the only club to win all four league games, including a 4-1 win at Utrecht on August 15 and a 5-2 home win over Go Ahead Eagles on August 29.

AZ have conceded 13 league goals in 11 games, level with PSV Eindhoven, Ajax and Heerenveen and behind only Twente (10) and Feyenoord (12), but their 20 goals scored are six fewer than Groningen have managed.

On Friday, Echteld said AZ are close to the style he wants and called Groningen one of the hardest-running sides in the Eredivisie, while Ro-Zangelo Daal leads the hosts with five league goals.

Dick Lukkien’s side have lost three of their last four games in all competitions, the exception being a 2-2 draw at NEC on October 25 in which Brynjolfur Willumsson scored twice before the interval and the hosts replied through Clement Bischoff and Noe Lebreton.

A 2-0 home defeat to second-tier Emmen on October 29 ended their KNVB Cup run in the first round, with Jack Cooper-Love scoring in the 10th and 55th minutes against Lukkien’s former club.

Jacob Ondrejka scored after 17 seconds against Sparta Rotterdam on November 1, but Cedric Hatenboer and Milan Zonneveld turned the game around before Thom van Bergen levelled on 29 minutes, and substitute Andrej Kostic punished a mix-up between goalkeeper Etienne Vaessen and Hans Hateboer with an empty-net finish in the 85th minute.

Willumsson is level on eight league goals with Wout Weghorst and Soren Tengstedt at the top of the scoring charts, and Groningen’s 26 league goals are six more than AZ have scored.

The Pride of the North have taken one point from three games against the current top four, conceding five at PSV Eindhoven, two against Twente and five against Ajax, and 14 of their 15 league points have come against clubs in the bottom half.

Groningen beat AZ 3-0 at the Euroborg on March 22, 2026, through a Marvin Peersman penalty and goals from Van Bergen and Tygo Land, but they have lost all five of their visits to Alkmaar in all competitions since December 2021, the latest a 4-1 defeat on August 10, 2025.

AZ Alkmaar Eredivisie form:

AZ Alkmaar form (all competitions):

Groningen Eredivisie form:

Groningen form (all competitions):

Team News

Lewis Schouten is the main doubt after leaving the Juventus game with a hamstring injury in the first half, soon after Koopmeiners’s goal, with Wesley Hoedt taking his place.

Stije Resink, who joined from Groningen in the summer, is out with a serious knee injury and Echteld said he is not expected back before January, while Jizz Hornkamp and goalkeeper Jeroen Zoet are also listed as unavailable.

Kees Smit made his comeback from injury off the bench against Juventus, but Echteld said he could not yet start, which leaves Smit, the 35-year-old Jordy Clasie, who has said he finds his reserve role hard, and Elijah Dijkstra as options from the bench.

Meerdink, Calvin Stengs and Daal started in the front three against Juventus, and no AZ suspensions have been reported.

Groningen will be without forward Ryan Metu and midfielder Travis Hernes, who was operated on this week, while David van der Werff and Alvin Nordin are doubts.

Defenders Elvis van der Laan, 18, and Tyrique Mercera are back after recent injuries, and Lukkien otherwise has a fully available squad.

Lukkien used a 4-2-3-1 against Sparta, with Vaessen in goal, Hateboer, Thijmen Blokzijl, Marco Rente and Mark Csinger in defence, Pelle Clement and Tika de Jonge in midfield, and Willumsson supported by Jorg Schreuders, Van Bergen and Ondrejka.

Groningen have had a full week to recover from that defeat, against roughly 68 hours for AZ after Thursday’s 9pm local kick-off, and Lukkien said his squad recovered well.

AZ Alkmaar possible starting lineup:

De Busser; Kasius, Goes, Hoedt, De Wit; Kwakman, Byskov, Koopmeiners; Stengs, Meerdink, Daal

Groningen possible starting lineup:

Vaessen; Hateboer, Blokzijl, Rente, Csinger; Clement, De Jonge, Schreuders, Van Bergen, Ondrejka; Willumsson

We say: AZ Alkmaar 2-1 Groningen

Groningen have taken one point and conceded 12 goals in three games against the current top four, which suits an AZ side that created 2.30 expected goals at Ajax without scoring and should find the space it was denied at the Johan Cruijff Arena.

Groningen have scored in nine of their last 10 games in all competitions, the exception being the cup defeat to Emmen, so Willumsson, who struck twice at NEC, and Van Bergen should find a way past an AZ back line that may be without Schouten.

The case for the visitors is the turnaround, with AZ playing 68 hours after Thursday’s defeat and Groningen having won 3-0 in March, but they have lost five straight visits to Alkmaar and taken 14 of their 15 points against bottom-half sides, so we expect AZ’s greater depth to prove decisive.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.