AZ Alkmaar vs Dnipro-1 prediction: EUROPE: Europa Conference League – Group Stage betting tips on match 2022-11-02 17:45.
The curtain comes down on UEFA Europa Conference League (UECL) Group E with a straight shootout for the round of 16. AZ Alkmaar are in pole position and must simply avoid defeat here to secure top spot, whilst opponents Dnipro-1 must win if they want to sidestep the intermediate round in the new year. With AZ winning both of their home group games and Dnipro-1 victorious in both of their group trips, this is certainly an intriguing encounter.
AZ ended a recent three-game losing streak with back-to-back wins over Vaduz and Volendam, setting up this shootout nicely whilst also keeping their forlorn Eredivisie title hopes alive. AZ have actually qualified from nine of their 14 previous UEFA groups, and their impressive home form across all competitions this season (W8, D2, L1) suggests that they can hold off Dnipro-1 here despite keeping no clean sheets across their last seven games at home.
In contrast to their hosts, Dnipro-1 don’t have the same level of European pedigree with this being their very first European appearance. However the visitors are flying high atop the Ukrainian Premier League table (W8, D1) and have won both their UECL away games despite their failure to keep a clean sheet, which is perhaps helped by the fact that none of the nomadic Dnipro-1’s home games are currently being played on Ukrainian soil.
In fact since losing their very first away game of the season, a 3-0 defeat to AEK Larnaca, no host side has stopped Dnipro-1 from running out victorious (W6). The rise of Dnipro-1 in their short five-year history has been controversial in Ukraine, but their rise up the leagues and the title challenge to follow suggests that Oleksander Kucher’s men fear no side.
Players to watch: AZ’s Dani de Wit received a straight red card after just 14 minutes last time out, but he’ll be available for this UEFA-sanctioned clash and looking to build on his impressive four goal contributions in this group (G3, A1). Jointly topping the scoring charts ahead of the round is Dnipro-1’s Artem Dovbyk (G4, A2), who has twice scored the decisive winning goal.
Hot streak: AZ haven’t lost any of their last 22 European home games (W14, D8).