Eredivisie Opener: Promoted NAC Host Strong AZ Alkmaar Side
In the early stages of the new Eredivisie season, promoted side NAC will host league strongholds AZ Alkmaar at their home ground. This match presents a significant challenge for NAC, who have had a tough start, while AZ Alkmaar will look to continue their strong form and solidify their position at the top. Historically, AZ has held the upper hand in this fixture, but NAC will aim to spring a surprise at home.
Match Background & Qualification Scenarios
This Eredivisie fixture marks a significant early-season clash for the 2025-26 campaign. For the home side NAC, this is their comeback season in the top flight after successfully gaining promotion in 2024 [5]. They are eager to establish themselves in the Eredivisie, making every match crucial. Visitors AZ Alkmaar are widely regarded as one of the league's perennial powerhouses, expected to contend for European qualification spots and potentially challenge for the title [4, 11, 24]. In the nascent stages of the season, both teams are striving to accumulate points to lay the groundwork for their respective objectives. Historically, in 33 encounters since 2003, AZ Alkmaar has won 17 matches compared to NAC's 9 wins, with 7 draws, indicating a clear advantage for AZ in head-to-head records [12, 17].
Recent Form
As the season has just commenced, neither team has played enough official matches to establish a robust recent form analysis. However, reports suggest that NAC Breda has endured a tough start to the season, failing to win in 11 of their last 12 matches across competitions (including pre-season and inter-season results) [32]. Conversely, AZ Alkmaar has shown stronger form, arriving with an active six-game unbeaten run [32], which likely includes early league and UEFA Conference League fixtures. This highlights the contrasting momentum between the two sides heading into this encounter.
Key Players & Injury News
For NAC, the team will contend with several injury concerns. Forward Charles-Andreas Brym is sidelined with an arm injury, midfielder Fredrik Oldrup Jensen is dealing with a toe injury, and defender Leo Greiml is out due to a shoulder injury [32, 43, 45]. Additionally, forward Moussa Soumano has been absent since pre-season due to injury [29]. Despite these setbacks, players like Sydney van Hooijdonk remain central to their attacking efforts [32]. For AZ Alkmaar, the primary injury concern revolves around striker Troy Parrott. The in-form Irish international, who has scored nine goals recently, picked up an injury in training on August 27 and will definitely miss this match, potentially ruling him out of Ireland's upcoming international fixtures [28, 39, 41]. Despite Parrott's absence, AZ's squad depth allows coach Maarten Martens to rely on other forwards like Mexx Meerdink. Overall, AZ's squad is considered more complete than NAC's [32].