Europa League: AZ Alkmaar vs Celtic Preview, News, Odds, Prediction

The situation is not good at all for AZ Alkmaar before their rematch with Celtic. The Europa League is at stake, and the Dutch representatives have a 0-2 deficit from the first leg. They’ve taken a weekend off from the Eredivisie, to prepare better for the Scottish powerhouse, which is fantastic lately. The Hoops have been performing at the highest possible level over the previous three weeks, and if they played like this before, the UEFA Champions League group stage wouldn’t be just a dream for Ante Postecoglu’s crew.

Preview

AZ Alkmaar (+115) lost the previous two games, both of them competitive. It is not what they hoped for, because AZ has high ambitions for this year. What makes the situation even worse is the fact that both losses came without a goal scored, which is odd after seeing AZ’s prep period,

In all but one preseason game, the Alkmaar was netted, and that single game was a 1-0 loss to RB Leipzig. Also, these defeats came following four wins in a row (Torino, Real Sociedad, OFI Crete, and Panathinaikos), which closed the summer training camp.

The games in which Alkmaar participates are not as efficient as in the past, and seven of the past ten were with under 2.5 goals.

Celtic (+185) won six straight scorings, three or more goals in five of them. Overall, the Hoops’ goal difference during that span is 26-4.

After suffering elimination from the UEFA Champions League qualifiers, against Midtjylland, Celtic had one more bitter pill to swallow, to Hearts, and after that went on a rampage.

Though, we need to say that apart from the win in Jablonec, 2-4, all the other matches were at Celtic Park. After five straight, the Scots are now heading on the road to test that good form. Seven of the last 10 games had over 2.5 goals, while the Celtics kept clean sheets four times in the past five contests.

Latest News

Owen Wijndal is out, but Jesper Karlsson is available for the hosts.

On the other side, Christopher Jullien is out, Karamoko Dembele is out too, as well as Mikey Johnston. Ryan Christie is slowly getting back in shape, and he appeared against St. Mirren this weekend.

Head to Head Games

Celtic was far better in the first leg, defeating the hosts, 2-0 in Glasgow. The Hoops took the lead in the 12th minute and solved the game after 61 minutes of play when Letschert hit the back of his own net. All in all, the Scottish team showed more than their rivals, fully deserving to win.

Prediction

Celtic’s morale is way higher than AZ’s, and the way they played in the first match suggests that Alkmaar won’t have a solution for their aggressive approach. We are very sure that the Scottish powerhouse won’t lose in the Netherlands, and that is the reason why we suggest betting on double chance, Celtic or draw, with the odds on that at -175, which is quite solid when looking at the overall situation and form of both clubs. Postecoglu and the boys should routinely secure the place in the Europa League.

Pick: Celtic or draw