AZ Alkmaar vs Kairat Almaty Predictions, Betting Tips and Match Previews

AZ Alkmaar were shocked in their visit to Kazakhstan last week, as they lost 2-0 at Kairat. The Dutch side went from an impressive domestic campaign last time out to a major European setback, but will they be able to recover? The pair meet in Alkmaar on Thursday night, and the Eredivisie side have a mountain to climb in order to turn around the deficit. Having already been shown up by Kairat, could AZ slip up at home to the underdogs?

Kairat have been written off in this European trip, but they are coming here with a 2-0 lead. They meet an AZ side who have to push forward in this game in order to get an aggregate lead, but can the visitors hold firm? They’ll be aiming to restrict the hosts’ chances, while they know an away goal will be a hammer blow for the Dutch side.

Of course, AZ came in to that game after being dealt a blow, as they’d just sold winger Alireza Jahanbakhsh to Brighton. Losing their key player on the eve of this tie wasn’t great, and they’re going to struggle to replace the Iranian. He certainly would have been useful as they look to stretch the Kairat defence this week, as AZ are going to need to find three goals from somewhere.

While the hosts are going to be chasing to turn around the aggregate scoreline, we think they might have issues even getting ahead on the night. This has been a less than stellar period for Dutch football in Europe, with both PSV and Ajax making early exits from the Europa League qualifiers a year ago. To buck that trend with a full strength squad would be impressive, but to do it straight after losing a £20million player to the Premier League would be huge for AZ. Can they find a way through the visitors here?

Well, AZ are coming off the back of three straight losses in this competition. They’ve won one of five at home, a run which saw them slip up to Vojvodina, Dundalk and Maccabi Tel Aviv. They’ve won twice in their last 10 in Europe, while the visitors are looking strong. Kairat have lost once in seven Europa League games. They’ve won seven of eight matches overall, and they should do enough to hold the hosts at bay. We think backing against AZ is the value here, so we’re going with Kairat to avoid defeat, and a 1-1 draw.