European football is hanging on a thread for AZ. In the preliminary rounds of the Europa League, the Alkmaarders will have to score at least twice for the home crowd against Kazakh Kairat, which turned out to be too strong 2-0 last week. However, it can ghost in the AFAS Stadium!
AZ:
With fresh football and a meritorious third place AZ last season was one of the main trendsetters of the Eredivisie. The Alkmaarders however paid a hefty price for this, because star players like Wout weghorst and Alireza Jahanbakhsh grabbed their bags and moved to Wolfsburg and Brighton respectively, while large purchases initially failed. Last week, however, it became painfully clear that something has to be added when AZ wants to equal its performance last season. Against Kairat the Alkmaarders could not make a fist offensively and in the back there was quite a mess. It was only in the final phase that AZ started to play better, but then the 2-0 final score was already on the scoreboard. Particularly because the o so important out goal did not occur, the team of coach John van den Brom is now faced with a very difficult task.
With the Bjorn Johnsen, who has come over from ADO Den Haag, AZ has finally gotten the attacker so eagerly wanted. The Norwegian, last season good for no less than nineteen league goals, is not yet eligible for Thursday night. Van den Brom will therefore have to appeal to lesser gods like Fred Friday and possibly also Myron Boadu. The very young Boadu got the chance to show off his skills in the first match against Kairat, but in Kazakhstan he was hardly involved. Van den Brom, however, does not have many other options, because striker Ferdy Druijf only has 81 Eredivisie minutes in the legs.
Kairat:
Kairat is certainly not a world team, but has much more experience compared to AZ. The Kazakh people are smart and can not just be lured out of the tent. As we could already see at the World Cup this summer, it is no longer so much about ball possession, but rather how efficient you are in the conversion. Kairat had no problem in digging in front of his own public, but then managed to punish AZ errors twice without fail in the counter.
Kairat will undoubtedly park the bus in Alkmaar as well. Especially now that the team has a comfortable 2-0 lead on the plane, there is no reason for trainer Carlos Alos to change his battle plan. On the counter the Kazakh people are perilous with former Arsenal star Andrey Arshavin as conductor and the Ukrainian Aderinsola Eseola as chilly afmaker. If the visitors in the AFAS Stadium make one, they are almost certain in the next preliminary round, as AZ has to score at least four times. A major drawback for Arshavin and associates is of course the long flight of more than eight hours and the time difference of four hours. The volatility of Kairat in European away games is certainly no coincidence.
PREDICTION: AZ Alkmaar to win @ 1.35
