AZ Alkmaar vs. West Ham Betting Tips: Goals expected in Conference League second leg

West Ham travel to the Netherlands to take on AZ Alkmaar on Thursday evening. After a 2-1 victory at The London Stadium seven days ago, The Hammers are in search of their first European trophy since 1965 and our man Anthony Eadson is on hand with his best bets.

West Ham came from behind to secure a 2-1 advantage at half-time in this European Conference League semi-final. Second half goals from Said Benrahma and Michail Antonio secured the win for David Moyes’ side who after Leicester’s defeat on Monday, have now confirmed their Premier League status for another season and can now give this competition their full focus.

AZ have it all to do in this second leg, and unsurprisingly they are the outsiders of the pair to advance to the final that will take place in Prague on 7 June. The Dutch outfit can be backed at 12/5 in the ‘To Qualify’ market with most betting sites, with just 1/3 on show for West Ham to make it to the final. 

Second legs of knockout ties can often lead to a greater amount of goals than usual with teams throwing everything at it and often forgetting a little about their defensive duties. Without being too stereotypical of Eredivisie teams, I expect AZ to really come out on the front foot and go for this one. 

Just like in the first leg, I do not envisage West Ham keeping a clean sheet here and looking back at AZ’s last 15 matches in European competitions and Over 2.5 goals has landed in ten of those.

With West Ham, we have a similar story. In nine of their last 13 European matches, The Hammers have seen Over 2.5 goals land. Odds of 10/11 suggest that this game has a 52% chance of there being three or more goals on Thursday evening and in my opinion this should be a lot shorter at possibly around the 7/10 area.

I’ll also be having a small dabble on Jordy Clasie to be carded. In the first leg at The London Stadium Clasie gave away four fouls and was booked for mouthing off at the referee and also gave away four fouls.

He is the most carded player for AZ Alkmaar this season in the league with six cautions to his name. It may not be the most glamorous of prices at 3/1 to pick up a card against West Ham, but with a place in a European final on the line, we should see plenty of cards in this clash.