Aston Villa vs AZ Alkmaar Prediction: Villa too strong at home

Aston Villa will look to consolidate a place in Group E's top two, when they host AZ Alkmaar in a Europa Conference League clash at Villa Park on Thursday night (20:00).

Villa ran riot in Alkmaar last month, and Unai Emery's side have won two of their last three games in this group.

However, it's still all to play for in this group, which hasn't seen a draw yet, with Legia Warsaw on six points along with Villa, while Zrinjski and AZ Alkmaar are both on three.

Team News

Villa remain without long-term absentees Tyrone Mings and Emi Buendia, while Jhon Duran and Jacob Ramsey will be absent here due to respective toe and ankle injuries.

As for the visitors, Sem Westerveld has been sidelined since July due to a meniscus injury, while Mees de Wit continues to recover from a foot injury.

Match Odds

Villa are favourites for the game at 2/5, while Alkmaar can be backed at 13/2, and the draw is 18/5.

Both teams to score is priced up at 10/11, and over 2.5 goals is 4/6.

Aston Villa to win and both teams to score (yes) @ 2/1

Villa are scoring plenty in the Europa Conference League, but they're also getting a few in the Premier League too.

With 26 goals across their 11 matches so far they're among the top three in the division for most goals scored, but they do concede a fair amount too - the most out of the current top six.

Unai Emery will be eager to see his side respond to the 2-0 defeat away from home against Nottingham Forest, however Villa have been sensational at home in recent weeks, having scored 14 goals at Villa Park in their last four outings in all competitions.

AZ have scored in every competitive match so far this term, so I believe that they can get on the scoresheet here.

Vangelis Pavlidis to score anytime @ 5/2

Pavlidis has been excellent in front of goal for AZ this season.

The Greek forward has scored 14 goals in 17 appearances across all competitions, although he's only scored once in the Europa Conference League.

He failed to score against Excelsior in his most recent outing, but prior to that, the 24-year-old had netted in every league game for AZ.

Pavlidis has had a storming start to the campaign, and I fancy him to get on the scoresheet on Thursday.

Check out our Football Betting Tips on our Football homepage.