At A Glance
Aston Villa are currently tied with Legia Warszawa on six points in Group E, with Thursday’s opponents AZ Alkmaar and HŠK Zrinjski level on three points each.
Following defeat in the Polish capital on matchday one and then an injury-time win over Zrinjski, the Villans put in a superb display at AZ Stadion to triumph 4-1 two weeks ago.
Unai Emery’s side host their Dutch opponents on the back of a 2-0 defeat at Nottingham Forest in the Premier League last weekend, ending a six-match unbeaten run in all competitions.
AZ Alkmaar are enjoying a strong season domestically, fighting at the top of the Eredivisie table.
Tonight’s visitors have come through 10 league matches without defeat, winning eight and drawing two, to leave themselves second in the Dutch table.
Their impressive league form has been built upon a strong defensive platform that has seen them concede only five times this term, although they were pegged back in injury time last weekend to draw 1-1 at Excelsior.
Matchday Three Meeting
Villa claimed all three points in style at AZ Stadion when the sides met in the Netherlands two weeks ago.
Leon Bailey ensured the visitors capitalised on their strong start to the match with a drilled effort after 13 minutes.
A first Villa goal for Youri Tielemans strengthened his side’s grip on the game before a five-minute spell early in the second half wrapped up the win.
Ollie Watkins tapped home after 51 minutes and John McGinn netted shortly after to make it 4-0, with the hosts netting a consolation when Ibrahim Sadiq fired past Emi Martínez.
Three to Watch
Vangelis Pavlidis
The Greek striker has been AZ Alkmaar’s main source of goals since joining the club from Willem II in 2021.
Pavlidis bagged 25 in his first season with the club before following it up with a further 22 strikes last term.
He’s on course to better both those campaigns after making a flying start to the current season, scoring 14 goals in 17 games thus far.
After coming through at German side VFL Bochum, Pavlidis excelled at Willem II before his move to AZ. The forward has also won 34 caps for Greece.
Jordy Clasie
Jordie Clasie is a familiar face to English football fans after a four-year spell at Southampton.
The 32-year-old, who has captained AZ on a number of occasions this season, began his career at Feyenoord and made nearly 200 appearances for the club before moving to the Premier League.
A defensive midfielder, the Dutchman played 49 times for the Saints, picking up a League Cup runners-up medal, before joining AZ in 2019.
Clasie, who has 17 caps for his country, has become a key player for Alkmaar and passed the 150-appearance mark for the club earlier this season.
Mathew Ryan
Australian goalkeeper Ryan is another member of the Alkmaar squad who has Premier League experience.
The 31-year-old has played three times at Villa Park, twice for Brighton and Hove Albion and once for Arsenal, coming out on the winning side once.
Ryan, who made over 120 appearances for Brighton, has been a standout performer for AZ since signing for the club from FC Copenhagen in January. He has kept eight clean sheets in 17 games this season, helping AZ to compete at the top of the Eredivisie.
Ryan is still first choice for Australia, playing against England at Wembley last month as Ollie Watkins netted the only goal of the game, and he’s won 81 caps for his country.
Form Guide
Pascal Jansen’s side, who reached the semi-finals of the Europa Conference League last season, are currently second behind leaders PSV Eindhoven in the Eredivisie.
Domestically, AZ have won eight and drawn two of their first 10 matches, with one of those draws coming last time out at Excelsior when they conceded in added time.
The Dutch side were unbeaten in six games prior to their loss to Villa, a run which included a 1-0 victory over Legia Warszawa.
Their only two defeats of the campaign so far have come against Unai Emery's side and away to Zrinjski on matchday one, when they lost 4-3 having been 3-0 ahead at the break as the hosts mounted a sensational second-half comeback.
The Boss
“I respect a lot AZ Alkmaar and they are a winning team. They are winning a lot of matches in their league and they were successful last year in the Conference League. They lost against West Ham in the semi-finals. They have experiences in Europe and they have players with international experiences. I will respect them a lot because it’s very important for them as we won the first match there. It's matchday four and they will play trying to win and get some points. For us it’s very important because we can try to increase the difference with AZ Alkmaar and it’s a key moment to stay in front of them.”
Unai Emery
