AZ Alkmaar vs Heerenveen Prediction 22.05.2025 | Eredivisie

• Competition: Eredivisie - Play-Offs Conference League
• Date: Thursday, 22nd, May 2025
• Kickoff: 17:45 UK / 18:45 CEST
• Venue: AFAS Stadion (Alkmaar)

With a spot in the Eredivisie Conference League Play-off final on the line, AZ Alkmaar welcome Heerenveen to AFAS Stadion for a thrilling Thursday night semi-final clash.

After locking down Europa League spots with back-to-back fourth-place finishes in the last two domestic campaigns, AZ Alkmaar have slightly underdelivered this season and now face the grind of the play-off path in order to secure their continental ticket.

As one of Eredivisie’s long-serving clubs, Heerenveen have pieced together a solid campaign to break into the top nine for the third time in the last four seasons, though they are still yearning for a long-awaited return to European competition which has eluded them for over a decade.

AZ Alkmaar vs Heerenveen Betting Tips : AZ ALKMAAR TO WIN

It’s fair to say Heerenveen step into this playoff semi-final as clear underdogs, but they surely won’t wave the white flag despite the lingering nightmare of their last visit to the AFAS Stadion where AZ Alkmaar handed them the most brutal defeat in club history with a ruthless 9-1 demolition. After suffering a gut-wrenching penalty shootout loss to Go Ahead Eagles in the KNVB Beker final which denied them a direct Europa League berth, the Cheese Farmers bounced back in style by stringing together a five-match unbeaten run featuring three emphatic wins in which they struck exactly three goals each time. Heerenveen’s inferior league finish compared to AZ has them playing the role of visitors in this single-leg playoff, which doesn’t bode well given they closed the Eredivisie as the league’s poorest traveling team with just seven poor points collected and a worrying 14 losses from 17 trips this season. Besides suffering a humiliating nine-goal defeat in their league clash, the Super Frisians have struggled on recent visits to the AFAS Stadium, returning with heads down in five of their last six matches there, and considering they have conceded 42 goals in 17 trips this season, we don’t see how Heerenveen can trouble an AZ side that has regained momentum and looks ready to dominate their way into the Eredivisie Conference League playoff final.