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Borussia Dortmund will square off against AZ Alkmaar in a club friendly at the Banús Football Center on Saturday.
The hosts are set to play two friendlies at Saturday's venue and, after squaring off against the Dutch team, they will take on Standard Liege next week. Dortmund concluded 2023 with three consecutive 1-1 draws. In their previous outing, Julian Brandt's 29th-minute opener was canceled out by Sepp van den Berg as Mainz held Dortmund to a draw.
The visitors signed off for the previous year with a win as Ruben van Bommel's match-winner in the first half of extra time helped them register a 3-2 win over HHC in the KNVB Cup second round.
They are scheduled to play just one friendly during their winter break and will resume their Eredivisie campaign against Twente FC next week.
Borussia Dortmund vs AZ Alkmaar Head-to-Head and Key Numbers
- The two teams will meet for the first time. Both the hosts and the visitors have gone up against teams from the Netherlands and Germany respectively.
- The hosts have met Dutch teams 11 times in all competitions and have three wins to their name in that period. They have suffered five defeats while three games have ended in draws.
- Interestingly, the visitors have also squared off against German teams 11 times in all competitions. They have just two wins to their name while suffering seven defeats and two games have ended in draws.
- Borussia Dortmund endured a winless run in December across all competitions, with four of the six games ending in 1-1 draws.
- AZ Alkmaar also struggled a bit in December, recording two wins in six games while suffering three losses and playing just one draw.
- Both teams have enjoyed good goalscoring run in their respective leagues, with Dortmund scoring 30 goals in 16 Bundesliga games and AZ finding the back of the net 35 times in 16 Eredivisie games.
Borussia Dortmund vs AZ Alkmaar Prediction
Die Borussen struggled to get going in December as they went winless in their six games last month. They played out three consecutive 1-1 draws to sign off for 2023 and will look to return to winning ways.
They have trained with an almost full-strength squad apart from the long-term injuries alongside Sébastien Haller and Ramy Bensebaini, who have been called up by their national teams for the 2023 AFCON.
De Kaasboeren arrested their losing run after just two games and registered a win in their last game of 2023. They will look to build on that form in this friendly. They have been active in the transfer window and have signed Gonçalo Esteves on loan from Sporting. The right-back has joined the squad at the training camp in Spain and is expected to start in this match.
Djordje Mihailovic is set to leave the club for Colorado Rapids and has not traveled with the team to Spain. Yukinari Sugawara is with the Japan National team at the 2023 AFC Asian Cup.
Both managers will look at the friendly as an opportunity to give young players some first-team experience. With that in mind and with nothing much at stake in this friendly, we expect the two teams to settle for a draw.
Prediction: Borussia Dortmund 2-2 AZ Alkmaar
Borussia Dortmund vs AZ Alkmaar Betting Tips
Tip 1: Result - Draw
Tip 2: Goals - Over/Under 2.5 Goals - Over 2.5 goals
Tip 3: At least a goal to be scored in the second half - Yes
Tip 4: Vangelis Pavlidis to score or assist any time - Yes
