AZ Alkmaar vs. Aston Villa Betting Tips: Best bets for Europa Conference League Clash

Aston Villa travel to the Netherlands to take on AZ Alkmaar in the Europa Conference League on Thursday. We’ve made a case for two tips that we feel represent value in the betting markets that you can read all about below.

After two rounds of fixtures in the Europa Conference League group stage, all four teams in Group E currently find themselves on three points. 

The Dutch side were last in European action against Legia Warszawa at home with AZ coming out 1-0 winners. They are unbeaten in their last six games in all competitions (W5 D1 L0) heading into the contest against Aston Villa.

Villa defeated Zrinjski 1-0 at home in their last group stage match, with John McGinn scoring the only goal of the game. Unai Emery’s men grabbed their 11th consecutive Premier League home win at the weekend when beating West Ham 4-1. Entering Thursday's match, they are unbeaten in their last four games in all competitions (W3 D1 L0).

Unai Emery has been a breath of fresh air for Aston Villa fans since he replaced Steven Gerrard towards the back end of 2022. Their form in-front of their fans has been remarkable but with the way the Spanish manager has got this side playing at the moment, we think they have more than enough quality to avoid defeat in this clash.

We are therefore backing the visitors in the double chance market, meaning this leg of the bet will cash should they win or draw the game. We’ll also be adding both teams to score to this bet builder pick via bet365, which take the odds up to a backable 23/20.

AZ Alkmaar should not be overlooked in this clash and have been in strong form themselves of late having won five and drawn one of their last six. In total, Alkmaar have scored in their last 17 matches across all formats and with Villa having done so in their last eight, both teams finding the net looks a solid prospect on Thursday. 

At odds of 18/1 we also think that Lucas Digne is potentially overpriced in the anytime scorer market, with Sky Bet being almost double the price of some other betting sites at the time of writing. 

The Frenchman only let off 11 shots across the entire 2022/23 season, but this term he has been recording more attempts on goal, racking up nine already before the end of October. 

Digne has recorded three shots in 135 minutes of Europa Conference League football this term, one of which he found the net with against Legia Warsaw. At 18/1 he looks slightly overpriced based on his shooting figures so far this season.