Gil Vicente vs AZ Alkmaar Match Analysis and Prediction

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Following a dominant won on home turf last week, AZ Alkmaar make a trip to Portugal to face Gil Vicente on Thursday in the second leg of their Europa Conference League playoff tie.

The Dutch outfit picked up a 4-0 victory in the home leg and find themselves one game away from the group stage.

After an impressive fifth-place finish in the Primeira Liga last season, Gil Vicente entered Europa Conference League qualifying in the third round and met Riga FC.

A 1-1 draw from home was followed by a huge 4-0 win in the second leg to see the Gilistas progress to the playoff round.

Ahead of theirtrip to the Netherlands for the first leg against AZ Alkmaar last week, Ivo Vieira’s side suffered a disappointing 1-0 defeat against Arouca, and they would not be able to turn their fortunes around, being on the receiving end of a 4-0 defeat on that occasion.

Now with a major task if they are to progress to the group stage, and off the back of a goalless draw with Famalicao in the third round of league fixtures, Gil Vicente will look to upset the odds and overturn the four-goal deficit on Thursday.

AZ Alkmaar have already navigated through two rounds of qualifying in their bid to reach the Europa Conference League for the second straight season, firstly defeating Tuzla City with a 5-0 aggregate win.

They then met Dundee United, and after a 1-0 defeat in Scotland, they turned the tie around in impressive fashion, recording a 7-0 victory on home turf.

AZ went into last week’s contest following a 3-2 away win over Sparta Rotterdam, and they would take a 1-0 lead into the final 15 minutes through Dani de Wit’s goal, before securing their advancement courtesy of a 4-0 victory.

Gil Vicente vs AZ Alkmaar head to head

The two teams have previously met on just one occasion in the first leg of their Europa Conference League qualifying playoff-round tie, where AZ Alkmaar claimed a 4-0 home victory.

AZ 4-0 Gil Vicente 18/08/22

Gil Vicente latest home form

Gil Vicente have recently been on a good run of form at home, having been unbeaten in their six most recent matches. They played out a goalless draw with Famalicao in their last home game in the league. In their last five matches, they have scored 10 goals and kept clean sheets.

Gil Vicente 3-0 Tondela 08/05/22

Gil Vicente 2-0 Panafiel 13/07/22

Gil Vicente 1-0 Pacos Ferreira 08/08/22

Gil Vicente 4-0 Riga 11/08/22

Gil Vicente 0-0 Famalicao 22/08/22

Gil Vicente latest away form

Gil Vicente have recently been on a good run of form on the road, having won just one of their eight most recent matches. They lost 4-0 to Alkmaar in their last away game in the Europa Conference League. In their last five matches, they have scored four goals and conceded 13.

Vitoria Gumaraes 5-0 Gil Vicente 15/05/22

Vizela 2-3 Gile Vicente 27/07/22

Riga 1-1 Gil Vicente 03/08/22

Arouca 1-0 Gil Vicente 15/08/22

AZ 4-0 Gil Vicente 18/08/22

AZ Alkmaar latest home form

AZ Alkmaar have recently been on a good run of form at home, having been unbeaten in their nine most recent matches. They defeated Gil Vicente 4-0 in their last home game in the Europa Conference League. In their last five matches, they have scored 15 goals and kept clean sheets.

AZ 1-0 Tuzla City 21/07/22

AZ 1-0 Bologna 24/07/22

AZ 2-0 Go Ahead Eagles 07/08/22

AZ 7-0 Dundee United 11/08/22

AZ 4-0 Gil Vicente 18/08/22

AZ Alkmaar latest away form

AZ Alkmaar have recently been on a relatively good run of form on the road, having lost just one of their four most recent matches. They defeated Sparta Rotterdam 3-2 in their last away game in the league. In their last five matches, they have scored eight goals and conceded four.

Olympiakos 1-0 AZ 09/07/22

Westerlo 0-1 AZ 16/07/22

Tuzla City 0-4 AZ 28/07/22

Dundee United 1-0 AZ 04/08/22

Spartta Rottherdam 2-3 AZ 14/08/22

Gil Vicente news

Due to the continued absence of first-choice goalkeeper Stanislav Kritsyuk, 21-year-old Brazilian stopper Andrew will continue to play in the Gil Vicente goal.

Vieira should call back striker Fran Navarro, who was dropped to the bench for last week’s first leg, while Ali Alipur could also keep his place in attack.

AZ Alkmaar news

The likes of Dani de Wit and Vangelis Pavlidis could not start from the outset after both added to their goal tallies in the first leg.

Instead, Yusuf Barasi may lead the line with support from Mayckel Lahdo, with Fedde de Jong and Peer Koopmeiners candidates to come into the midfield.