Read our prediction for Antwerp vs AZ Alkmaar below. This preview was written by a sport journalist who is specialised in betting tips and predictions. Use our betting tips for the match between Antwerp vs AZ Alkmaar and you can increase your winnings!
Antwerp vs AZ Alkmaar Prediction & Betting tips
A Belgian and a Dutch club facing each other in a European match always remains something special. On Thursday evening it is that time again, when Royal Antwerp and AZ compete against each other in the King Baudouin Stadium in Brussels. Last week’s first leg on Dutch soil ended in a 1-1 draw, so the battle for a starting ticket for the Europa League main tournament is still completely open!
Royal Antwerp:
On paper, Royal Antwerp is clearly the underdog in this diptych. According to transfermarket.com, the selection of the Flemings would be worth as much as twenty million euros less than those from AZ. However, last week in the Grolsch Veste in Enschede there was little to be noticed. Royal Antwerp showed its teeth, and took the lead just before the break via Dylan Batubinsika. The visitors managed to hold on for a long time, but were unable to prevent Myron Boadu from scoring the equalizer on behalf of AZ in the final phase. A bitter pill for the team of trainer Laszlo Bölöni, although AZ had earned at least a draw in view of her many chances.
Royal Antwerp has the best papers because of its goal, but The Great Old realizes that the job is certainly not done yet. Because the own Bosuil Stadium does not meet the UEFA criteria, the club must, as in the previous preliminary round against Viktoria Plzen, move to the King Baudouin Stadium in Brussels, but the Flemish are certainly not alone on Thursday evening. The club already announced on Saturday that 20,000 tickets had already been sold. With this, the fans send a clear signal on the events of last week, after the local authorities of Enschede announced a few days before the first leg that no supporters were welcome. The result was a barely filled and atmospheric stadium, but that will be different next Thursday.
AZ:
AZ can get to work on Thursday evening. The Alkmaarders have to score anyway to beat Royal Antwerp in the battle for participation in the Europa League. Trainer Arne Slot has, with Oussama Idrissi, Myron Boadu, and Calvin Stengs, one of the best vanguard in the Netherlands, although they did not focus their sights last week. That will definitely have to be improved on Thursday evening.
For AZ, the main thing in the return is to stay out of the duels. The Alkmaarders have a refined football technique, but as soon as it comes to physical strength, they still have to beat up with the purified Royal Antwerp. In addition, you could regularly blame AZ for playground football in the past seasons, because in particular in the games against Ajax, Feyenoord, and PSV, the team regularly got stuck. Because of the huge sporting and financial interests, the return against Royal Antwerp is, in my opinion, very similar to a match against a club from the Dutch top three. We will see on Thursday evening whether AZ now has that absolute winning mentality. The team can at least count on a solid rear guard this season, as goalkeeper Marco Bizot only had to give in once in eight official duels.
Antwerp vs AZ Alkmaar head to head matches
22.08.19 EL AZ Alkmaar Antwerp 1 : 1
Betting tips we recommend:
| Prediction: | Both teams to score / YES |
| Selection odds: | 1,76 |
| Bookmaker: |  |
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