Feyenoord will host league leaders AZ in the first game after the extra long international break. For Feyenoord that break came at an unfortunate time, as they just started to get good form with impressive results. Manager Giovanni van Bronckhorst even won the manager of the month award for September. For AZ this will be their first real test of the season, though with some shaky performances they have managed to hold on to first place in the table. Feyenoord have scored an impressive 22 goals in their last five Eredivisie games. Though their match against Barcelona in between was one to forget. The man to watch is Gjivai Zechiël; The young midfielder made his debut for the Dutch national team during the latest international break after earning his call-up through a series of stellar performances this season. Even winning the player of the month in August, and having a good chance of winning the one in September too. Another player to watch is Luciano Valente; the captain for the Rotterdammers was surprisingly not called up despite good performances, he will surely be eager to prove himself even further and show Xavi Hernández of his importance. AZ started incredibly to the season, but form drastically dropped in the past four games (2W, 1D, 1L), their two wins were incredibly tight against Heerenveen (2-3) after a late comeback, and Telstar (1-0). Despite that there is one consistent performer in Mateo Chávez; the Mexican left back has been tremendous for AZ and has made the left flank completely his. With the other good performer Ro-Zangelo Daal ahead of him they have become incredibly deadly on that flank. In the last five matches between these two teams Feyenoord had won three times, while the other two ended in a draw. The last time AZ got three points against Feyenoord was in early 2022 when they won 2-1. With AZ looking to defend their position at the top and Feyenoord looking to continue their scoring form, both sides have plenty at stake in Rotterdam.