It’s time for the second leg of the Europa Conference League competition between these two teams – how will things play out?
The Europe Conference League is back and after a 2-0 loss to Nottingham Forest on the weekend, Aston Villa will be looking to bounce back and replicate their recent 4-1 victory they achieved at Alkmaar on the 26th October. Currently sitting second in the table behind Legia Warszawa, albeit on the same 6 point total, they will be hoping that a strong victory at Villa Park and a decent result for Zrinjski when they meet Legia, will help them to climb to the top of the table.
Their first loss in 7 games, with a 6-1 against Brighton, 4-1 against West Ham and Alkmaar, followed up by a 3-1 against Luton Town, Villa have been a goalscoring machine in the last few months, so despite Forest’s win on the weekend, they will be hoping top goalscorers Ollie Watkins (12 goals in all competitions this season) and Douglas Luiz (6 goals in all competitions this season) can net a few and that their goalie, Martinez, can overcome his weekend wobbles and keep AZ out for a clean sheet. So what do the Aston Villa v AZ Alkmaar odds look like? At BetVictor, at the time of writing, the Aston Villa odds to win in 90mins is 4/11 meaning a £10 bet would return £13.64, while the AZ Alkmaar odds to win in the 90 mins are less favourable at 6/1, so the same £10 wager would payout £70. In fact, the bookies have the top goalscorer heavily in Villa’s favour, with only 1 AZ Alkmaar player in the top 10 and none in the top 5. Notable names include Ollie Watkins currently at 5/6 to score at any time and Jhon Duran at 1/1 to score at any time in the match.
So how are the teams expected to lineup tonight? Alex Moreno and Jacob Ramsey will be out for Villa and are not expected to return to the weekend’s game against Fulham, but aside from those two, the majority of their main players are fit and ready to go. AZ Alkmaar still have full back Mees de Wit out and goalie Sem Westerveld, but their big loss will be winger Mayckel Lahdo, who is suspended having picked up a red-carded earlier on in the competition. Even with Lahdo, Thursday night’s game might have been a difficult feat to win at.
Whatever happens when these two teams meet, Villa are likely to move up or down a place and will hope that their fans will be in full voice when the game kicks off. All that remains to do is to wait for the kick-off at 8pm Thursday to see the game unfurls. Be sure to check back and see the latest Aston Villa vs Alkmaar odds here.
BetVictor Prediction on Aston Villa vs AZ:
Despite a loss against Forest on the weekend, Villa are strong favourites going into the game and the latest football betting odds tell the same story. Expect to see a few goals at Villa Park as Unai Emery’s team try and secure another 3 points for their side in the Europa Conference League.
Previous AZ vs Aston Villa prediction:
AZ take on Aston Villa in a pivotal match for group stage glory in the Europa Conference League. Check out all our Europa Conference League and Europa League markets and odds.
A John McGinn winner in stoppage time against Zrinjski was the difference between Aston Villa’s European campaign being a disaster or back on track. The Scotsman’s last gasp effort brought Villa three European points for the first time since the 08/09 season.
The victory now leaves Group E finely balanced with all four teams on three points and zero goal difference. This came from Villa’s shock defeat in Warsaw and AZ allowing Zrinjski to win despite being 3-0 at half-time.
Both Villa and AZ are expected to qualify from this group but with the positive performances from Legia Warsaw and Zrinjski, a defeat here for either side could jeopardise their qualification chances.
Unai Emery’s side are flying domestically but have struggled to carry that form over into their cup competitions. Two disappointing runouts in Europe either side of being dumped out of the EFL Cup by a struggling Everton. It’s clear the second unit isn’t up to the same high standard as the typical starting XI which makes predicting a Villa win difficult.
Especially considering AZ are a now a European regular with title ambitions of their own. AZ are undefeated in the Eredivisie, winning eight of their nine games. In those nine games, striker Vangelis Pavlidis has scored 13 times! The Greek forward has scored in every single league game so far and looks red hot in front of goal.
Villa are expected to rotate their squad with the likes of Callum Chambers and Clement Lenglet being reintroduced in the claret and blue rear-guard. Leon Bailey should start alongside an openly frustrated Youri Tielemans. Question marks will be raised over John Duran who was omitted from the matchday squad against West Ham despite not having a reported injury.
With both sides in exceptional form, this will be one of the games to watch from this week’s European fixtures. Our tip is a bet builder with:
- Match Result – Draw
- Vangelis Pavlidis to score
- Leon Bailey to score
This bet builders comes out at 23/1!
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