AZ Alkmaar vs Shelbourne prediction: EUROPE: Conference League – League phase betting tips on match 2025-11-26 17:45.
[p]Despite their own recent struggles, AZ Alkmaar have a huge chance to climb the UEFA Conference League table when they host a winless and goalless Shelbourne.[/p]
[p]Match News and Current Form[/p]
[p]AZ’s poor start to this Conference League campaign (W1, L2) may have started to creep into their domestic form, with back-to-back Eredivisie defeats now meaning that they’ve lost three successive matches across all competitions. That run was started by a 3-1 defeat to Crystal Palace on matchday three and has seen them concede 11 times in total, five of which came in their last home game against PSV. AZ should be confident of finding a response here given that PSV reversal was their first home loss since April (W10, D4) while they’re also unbeaten in their last ten European games as hosts (W9, D1), winning the last seven in a row.[/p]
[p]A daunting task therefore awaits Shelbourne, who’ve endured a tough start to their first-ever UEFA group/league phase (D1, L2). The Reds were reduced to ten men in the early stages of their 1-0 loss to Drita on matchday three, with that the last time they were in competitive action as the Irish domestic season has already concluded. There’ll be some rust to shake off here as Shelbourne look to score for the first time in the Conference League proper this season, but they can take confidence from winning three of their last four away games (L1), albeit each victory came by a one-goal margin.[/p]
[p]Head-to-Head History[/p]
[p]AZ are unbeaten in four prior H2Hs against Irish opponents (W2, D2), scoring exactly once each time. This will be Shelbourne’s first meeting with Dutch opposition.[/p]
[p]Hot Stats and Streaks[/p]
[p]Seven of AZ’s last eight home games saw both teams score.[/p]
[p]AZ have failed to score just once in their last 30 matches across all competitions.[/p]
[p]Five of Shelbourne’s last seven European away games produced under 2.5 goals.[/p]
[p]Six of Shelbourne’s last seven European losses came without reply.[/p]
[p]Key Players to Watch and Missing Players[/p]
[p]Troy Parrott has netted six times across his last three games for club and country, and was on target seven times in AZ’s qualifiers for this Conference League campaign. Shelbourne’s Ademipo Odubeko has scored in three separate European competitions already this season, with each strike coming after half-time.[/p]
[p]AZ goalkeeper Rome-Jayden Owusu-Oduro has missed their last two games through injury, while Shelbourne will hope their three-week gap between fixtures has helped ease their lengthy absentee list, but James Norris is suspended after being sent off on matchday three.[/p]
[p]For all the latest team news, please check the Flashscore match centre.[/p]
[p]Betting Analysis[/p]
[p]Though AZ have struggled lately this looks a mismatch on paper, so backing the hosts to win with a -2 handicap could turn a nice profit.[/p]
[p][i]Author: Ryan Fisher[/i][/p]