Antwerp vs AZ Alkmaar Predictions

Despite controlling the majority of the 1st leg, AZ were only able to claim a 1-1 draw at home to Belgian side Antwerp last week. The tie is finely poised but the advantage is with Antwerp as they are at home on Thursday and have an away goal in their back pocket.

The stats suggest that we are likely to be in for another tight, tense, and low-scoring ninety minutes between these two clubs with under 2.5 goals likely to be scored and we’re backing AZ to claim a 1-0 win, which would be enough to see them through to the next round.

Under 2.5 goals were scored in the 1st leg between these two clubs, though both clubs did create chances to win, especially AZ Alkmaar. Three of Antwerp’s and four of AZ’s last five matches have produced under 2.5 goals, which is another reason why we can’t see there being anymore than two goals scored in the 2nd leg.

AZ are unbeaten in their last even matches in all competitions, against Antwerp, Groningen, RKC, Fortuna Sittard, Hacken, and twice against Mariupol, so confidence is bound to be high in the visitors camp. AZ have also kept five clean sheets in their last six matches, three of which have come away from home and two arrived in their last two away games in the Europa League, while Antwerp have lost two of their last four matches, each by just one goal, which makes a 1-0 win for AZ look even more likely on Thursday.

Antwerp have scored six goals in their last five matches and could struggle against AZ’s strong defence on Thursday, while the visitors have netted eleven goals during that same period and only conceded a single goal. However, Antwerp have kept two clean sheets in their last five matches so we don’t expect AZ to be handed too many clear cut goal scoring opportunities in the 2nd leg.

We’re confident that under 2.5 goals will be scored on Thursday and have predicted a final scoreline of 1-0 in favour of AZ Alkmaar. The visitors have the better defensive record and have been scoring a lot more goals in recent weeks when compared to Antwerp. However, the hosts won’t be easy to defeat in front of their own fans, which is why we’ve backed a narrow 1-0 win for the Dutch visitors.