West Ham vs. AZ Alkmaar Betting Tips: Hammers to get the upper hand in Europa Conference League semi-final

West Ham continue their pursuit of European silverware as they face AZ Alkmaar in the first leg of their Europa Conference League semi-final on Thursday evening. Anthony Eadson is on hand with his best bets for the game from the London Stadium.

West Ham have previously won a European trophy, which came back in 1965 when they lifted the Cup Winners Cup. After a 1-0 victory against Manchester United on Sunday evening, The Hammers are now seven points above the drop zone and have all but confirmed their top-flight status for another season.

AZ Alkmaar sit in the fourth spot in the Eredivisie table, two points behind Ajax in third. The Dutch side needed extra time to knockout Anderlecht in the last eight, and after seeing off Lazio in the round-of-16, they will have nothing to fear, despite West Ham being the favourites to win this competition.

Looking at the outright market for the Europa Conference League and David Moyes’ men can be sided with at 7/4, while AZ are being offered at a general 3/1 with most betting sites.

I think West Ham look a little short in the Match Result market for this Europa Conference League clash, and I’ve therefore decided to get them onside by backing them to win and for Under 4.5 goals to be scored in the match.

West Ham have performed considerably better in recent weeks than they have done for the large majority of the campaign and have picked up some key wins with the 4-0 thumping of Bournemouth on the road, as well as the 1-0 victory over Manchester United.

In the Europa Conference League this season, West Ham have won all six of their home matches, with five of those featuring Under 4.5 goals. AZ will want to make sure they still have something to play for in the second leg and West Ham to win and Under 4.5 goals looks the smart play here at 5/6.

I’ve also picked out a little Bet Builder double with two players each to concede two or more fouls in the game. The first of those is Tomas Soucek, who again, has been back to somewhat of his old self in recent weeks after a rather mediocre campaign. 

When it comes to fouls, Soucek has given away two or more, in 11 of his last 17 starts for club and country and with a place in a European final up for grabs here, I think we should see a high-foul count for both sides.

Paired with Soucek is AZ Alkmaar’s Jordy Clasie. The midfielder gave away six fouls in the quarter-final second-leg tie with Anderlecht and only two other players have conceded more for his side in the Dutch top-flight this season. The midfielder has nine yellow cards in total across all competitions this term and combining both him and Soucek to gave away two or more fouls on Thursday, pays 11/2 with Paddy Power.