H2H: Manchester Utd vs AZ Alkmaar – Prediction (Europa League

Preview and Teams Comparison.

Manchester United need only avoid a defeat to progress as winners of this UEFA Europa League (UEL) group. They are unbeaten in nine home matches, with four of the five regular-time wins in that run seeing United open the scoring inside the first 30 minutes of play. Overall, the ‘Red Devils’ are on a scintillating run of 11 UEL home matches without defeat, spanning back to February 2016. Only the most recent of the last five UEL fixtures at Old Trafford has produced a margin of over 1.5 goals though, suggesting that this could be tight.

AZ Alkmaar’s nine-game unbeaten run in all competitions (W8, D1) bodes well here, in the context of a United team with several fringe players. Every one of the wins in that sequence came with a clean sheet and a first-half win, with AZ winning both halves on seven occasions. On the road, AZ have been unstoppable recently, with four successive clean-sheet wins on their travels (GF 15, GA 0) ahead of kick-off. Their 3.75 goals per-game average in that sequence bodes well, and they could reserve their best until later, with five of AZ’s last six UEL away goals coming after the break.

Players to watch: All eyes will once again be on United starlet Mason Greenwood, who has already opened his account in the UEL with two home goals, both of which were openers. AZ’s Ferdi Druijf rescued a point with a brace beyond the 85th minute in his last UEL fixture.

Stat attack: United’s last seven games have all produced over 2.5 goals, with the last four seeing an own-goal or penalty goal. If including qualifiers, AZ have opened the scoring in 60% of their last five UEL away games. AZ’s last three UEL away games have averaged 1.0 dismissals (either way) per-match.