Dnipro-1 vs AZ Alkmaar prediction: EUROPE: Europa Conference League – Group Stage betting tips on match 2022-09-07 19:00.
After making a perfect two-game start to the belated Ukrainian Premier League season, Dnipro-1 travel to Košice, Slovakia to open up their first ever European campaign. UEFA ruled that Ukrainian sides must play their home games abroad due to the ongoing war in their native country, but boss Oleksandr Kucher will hope Dnipro can keep their winning run alive against Dutch outfit AZ Alkmaar.
Dnipro’s European adventure began in the UEFA Europa League play-off round, although losing both legs against Cypriot side AEK Larnaca by a 5-1 aggregate score means that a win here would be a historical first. Both of Dnipro’s European defeats saw them trail 2-0 at half-time though, perhaps due to a lack of match practice for a side that have played a mere four competitive games this calendar year.
Much more experienced in European action, AZ won their UECL group last season on the way to a round of 16 exit. The Cheese Heads are hot favourites to repeat that feat and top the group and judging by their unbeaten Eredivisie start (W4, D1) and an 18-goal haul in six European qualifiers to reach this point, Pascal Jansen’s men look primed for a strong start.
While this is AZ’s first clash against Dnipro-1, they have faced Ukrainian opponents on ten prior occasions with mostly positive results (W4, D3, L3). However the most recent of those clashes was a 2-0 defeat away to Dynamo Kyiv back in 2020/21, a side that Dnipro-1 defeated by a 3-0 scoreline on the opening day of the new Ukrainian Premier League season!
Players to watch: Algerian wideman Yanis Hamache is one of only three non-native players to score in the new Ukrainian Premier League season (G1, A1). As for AZ, Dani de Wit has already scored in four of his six UECL matches this season, three of which were match openers.
Hot stat: All four of AZ’s UECL group stage victories last term came without reply, but never by more than a two-goal margin.