AZ Alkmaar
Europa League
Group Stage
Thu , Dec 03 , 2020 21:00
1 - 1
Napoli
AZ Alkmaar
Napoli
1 - 1
Napoli can seal a place in the knockout stages of the UEFA Europa League if they beat AZ Alkmaar at AFAS Stadion on Thursday.
Following a weird start to the 2020/21 campaign, Alkmaar is finally starting to turn draws into wins. Arne Slot’s men drew their opening five Eredivisie games, but they have since won their last four. They were on the same level of points as Ajax when the last season was canceled and lost the title only on goal aggregate. AZ’s unbeaten run has kept the club in a decent position, but now Ajax is ten points ahead. Any hopes of repeating last season’s second-place finish in the Dutch top-flight already seem to have disappeared. Alkmaar claimed maximum points from their first two Europa League games, but a double-header with Real Sociedad has slammed the team’s chances of reaching the next round. Having taken just one point from their previous two matches, AZ still has plenty of work to do. Goalkeeper Marco Bizot has helped his side to keep five clean sheets in their past nine matches in all competitions. If the shot-stopper is at his best on Thursday, AZ could keep Napoli at bay as they did when the two teams met for the first time and AZ made a huge surprise at the Stadio San Paolo.
AZ Alkmaar will be unable to avail the services of Jeremy Helmer in this game. Jordy Clasie is still in quarantine after contracting the coronavirus and will not play a part against Napoli.
AZ Alkmaar (4-3-3): Hobie Verhulst; Owen Wijndal, Bruno Martins Indi, Ramon Leeuwin, Jonas Svensson; Dani de Wit, Teun Koopmeiners, Fredrik Midtsjo; Jesper Karlsson, Calvin Stengs, Myron Boadu
The clubs' first European encounter produced a significant surprise as AZ defeated their Neapolitan hosts by a 57th-minute Dani de Wit strike, thus ending the Serie A side's six-match group stage winning run. At that time, AZ had only 14 senior players available for the trip due to coronavirus. Napoli has yet to claim a victory in the Netherlands but they will try to take revenge after a defeat that left them embarrassed.
On the Sunday night in which Napoli honored Diego Armando Maradona, they dominated Roma 4-0 with particularly exhilarating goals from Lorenzo Insigne and Matteo Politano. There were emotional scenes at the Stadio San Paolo, soon to be renamed the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona, just days after the legend’s death at the age of 60. It was fitting that the deadlock should be broken by a native Neapolitan and the team captain, with an Insigne curling free-kick that Diego would’ve been proud of. Fabian Ruiz squeezed his shot through the legs of Juan Jesus and Dries Mertens was quickest to react on a parried Eljif Elmas shot, but Politano rounded out the rout in style with a spectacular dribbling run past three players and the goalkeeper.
Napoli star Elseid Hysaj has tested positive for the coronavirus and has been ruled out of this fixture. Victor Osimhen and Amir Rrahmani are currently injured and are unavailable for selection.
Napoli (4-2-3-1): Alex Meret; Faouzi Ghoulam, Nikola Maksimovic, Kalidou Koulibaly, Giovanni Di Lorenzo; Diego Demme, Tiemoue Bakayoko; Hirving Lozano, Piotr Zielinski, Matteo Politano; Andrea Petagna
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AZ is a decent side that probably deserved their place in the UCL this season but Napoli has tremendous quality. They are the favorite to win this game and concentrate on the Seria A.
4-3-3
4-2-3-1
AZ Alkmaar
Napoli
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Daniel Garcia is originally from Basque Country, and as a kid who grew up just a few streets from Mendizorrotza Stadium, the choice of Deportivo Alavés as his favourite club is more than obvious. Because of his studies, he moved to Madrid where he graduated in Sports Journalism. Daniel plays football on the weekends, but that does not stop him from watching all La Liga matches. He believes that the outcome of a match can be predicted if all the parameters are analyzed well, including form of the players and weather conditions. Currently he is living in Belgrade, and is in love with a Serbian girl who works as a journalist at one of the famous Sport Channels in Serbia.