Group E in the Conference League is all square with three points each, leaving both AZ Alkmaar and Aston Villa with a clean slate, despite having lost one of their two opening matches. The two sides now meet in the Netherlands to see who can get a leg up.
AZ Alkmaar vs Aston Villa Betting Tips
- Over 2 Goals @4/5 with bet365
- Over 4.5 Aston Villa Shots on Target @4/5 with bet365
- Leon Bailey to Score or Assist @13/10 with bet365
All odds are courtesy of bet365, correct at the time of publishing and subject to change.
- Learn more about the bet365 bonus code
- Already got a bet365 account? Check out more free bets with the UK's top bookmakers
- Find out more about the UK's best betting sites
Villa suffered an embarrassing 3-2 away defeat at the hands of Legia Warszawa on their opening day before rebounding against Zrinjski Mostar with a 1-0 win at home.
Alkmaar did the exact reverse, losing to Mostar away before defeating Warzawa at home. This leaves all sides even and opens up the group massively while being forgiving on some of these early losses.
Goals coming in droves
Goals could well be on the cards this Thursday evening in the Netherlands as the high-flying Aston Villa side meet with Alkmaar who haven’t exactly been frugal themselves in this respect.
This line has been hit more often than not in clashes involving these two sides, Alkmaar seeing this in 67% of their matches, including all of the last three matches.
Villa contributes far more meaningfully to this, important as the burden of goals may well fall to them, as they have seen the over two goals line hit in all bar two of their matches.
Neither of these sides have shied away from the goals this year and this should persist into their Conference League match.
AZ Alkmaar vs Aston Villa Tip 1: Over 2 Goals @4/5 with bet365
Villains Firing Away
Aston Villa bolstered their impressive ranks over the summer by bringing in Moussa Diaby to join Ollie Watkins and Leon Bailey, and their presence on the pitch is marked, as Villa currently sit fifth in the league.
This is courtesy of their impressive shots on target stats which number among one of the highest in the league.
Continuing this into their Conference League will no doubt be their goal, and their league averages bring this over 4.5 line well into play.
They have averaged 6.4 per away game, and this is against the might of Premier League sides, as they should overwhelm the Eredivisie side.
AZ Alkmaar vs Aston Villa Tip 2: Over 4.5 Aston Villa Shots on Target @4/5 with bet365
Bailey most likely to contribute
Leon Bailey is now in his second season with Villa but is quickly becoming an integral part of the frontline, both in terms of his goals for the sides and the assists he provides the squad with.
He ranks second amongst the goals in the side with three, but perhaps most importantly has the highest combined expected goals and assists per 90 minutes on the side by some margin.
In this category he is averaging 0.98 per match, massively improving on Ollie Watkins of 0.59, and points towards the fact he is going to get on the scoresheet in some way.
AZ Alkmaar vs Aston Villa Tip 3: Leon Bailey to Score or Assist @13/10 with bet365