Last season’s UEFA Conference League semi-finalists, AZ Alkmaar, finished fourth in the Dutch Eredivisie 2022–23. They earned a spot for another qualification by finishing fourth last season. One of the reasons behind their success is the form of their Greek striker. Vangelis Pavlidis joined the club in 2021 and has been a prolific goal scorer. His 20-goal campaign in 2022–23 is followed by another impressive start to the 2023–24 campaign.
AZ Alkmaar are currently sitting second in the Eredivisie. The 24-year-old Greek has played a huge role in Alkmaar’s unbeaten start to the league season. Let’s take a look at how Pavlidis is assisting AZ Alkmaar and why big clubs are going to bid for him in the summer.
Since joining AZ Alkmaar in 2021, the Greek forward has made 70 appearances for the Dutch club in the Eredivisie. In these many games, he has netted 40 goals. The start of the 2023–24 season has also been impressive. He has made 14 appearances combined in the league and the UEFA Conference League. The Greek forward has scored 11 times in the current season, with 10 goals coming in eight league appearances. Pavlidis averages 3.22 shots per 90 minutes and has a 54.3% accuracy rate.
The above pizza chart shows the percentile rank of the player in comparison to other forwards in the league. By looking at the attacking stats there is no doubt why Vangelis Pavlidis is in great demand in Europe. His percentile rank is among the top, and four goals in the last four games make him one of the top scorers in the league. The Greek also averages 5.11 touches inside the penalty box per 90 minutes and has the highest percentile rank for these touches.
Impressive 2022-23 campaign
Vangelis Pavlidis played a great role in Alkmaar’s top-four finish and run to the UEFA Conference League semi-finals. He played in 25 league games and 13 Conference League games, including six in the qualifiers.
The Greek forward netted 21 goals in these two competitions and averaged 0.62 goals per 90 minutes. He took 2.76 shots per 90 minutes and had a 49% accuracy rate.
The 24-year-old also showed his creative side by creating 11 goals. The above viz shows the shot assists created by the player in the current and previous seasons. A total of 48 chances have been created, and 14 have found the back of the net. These include some link-up plays with other players making runs into the box. Pavlidis had nearly one goal contribution per match for AZ Alkmaar.
Last season in the league Pavlidis was ranked very highly in the league for making goal-scoring contributions. His overall percentile rank amongst other forwards was similar to that of this season. One thing that Pavlidis is missing in his game in the current season is the aerial duel win rate.
Vangelis Pavlidis is a match-winner and top European sides will look to add this striker to their squad. He has over 30 appearances for the national team and has the experience of playing in Europe as well. The Greek could be a healthy addition to any team.
Visuals via TFA data viz engine
