AZ Alkmaar take on the visitors West Ham in the second leg of UEFA Conference League semifinals. The first leg result: 1-2. The match will be played on Thursday, May 18th at AFAS Stadion (Alkmaar).
AZ Alkmaar managed to become champions of the Netherlands, which was a pleasant exception, as well as their success in the cup. However, what they have been able to achieve is maintaining a relatively stable position among the "second-tier" of Dutch football and actively performing on the European stage. This has been particularly successful under their current manager, Pascal Jansen. With him at the helm last season, they managed to break into the top five of the Eredivisie. They have even made further progress this season. There were chances to push Ajax out of the top three, but recently they ended up with a goalless draw in Amsterdam. At the same time, AZ has been performing well in the Conference League. They started in the summer, in the qualifying rounds, where they defeated Bosnian side "Tuzla City" in July, and then faced more prominent opponents such as "Dundee United" and "Gil Vicente." They topped their group in the autumn and secured victories over Lazio in the spring. The only setback came against "Antwerp" in the quarterfinals, losing 0-2 away. Fortunately, they had Pavlidis, who responded with a brace in Alkmaar. They eventually won the match in a penalty shootout. They managed to open the scoring in London, but the hosts ultimately secured a hard-fought victory.
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West Ham have always been fairly ambitious. However, serious success started to materialize only under David Moyes. In the penultimate season, the Scotsman almost led his team to the fourth spot, qualifying for the Champions League. However, in the following season, West Ham dropped to the 7th position, and in the current cycle, they spent a significant portion of their time around the relegation zone, or even in it. It was only in April-May, after a series of victories, that they finally managed to secure their place in the Championship. Nevertheless, their 7th-place finish in the Premier League in 2021/2022 allows them to participate in the Conference League now. Starting from the summer qualifiers, just like AZ, the English team showed consistent results. Their winning streak in the European competition was only halted by another representative from the Benelux region, Gent, with whom they drew 1-1 in the first leg of the quarterfinals. However, they achieved a resounding victory in the home leg. They started the semifinals at home. In the previous Thursday's match, the British team secured another victory in the tournament, but it was far from easy as they conceded the opening goal and had to fight hard for a 2-1 win.
West Ham have almost completed only their second full season on the international stage. On May 11th, they played against the Dutch team for the first time. Judging by the odds, another closely contested and intense match is expected. It won't be boring, so we predict that the spectators in the Netherlands will witness "a total of more than 2.5 goals scored."
Prediction for the match: Over 2.5 scored goals.
