Tottenham Hotspur vs. AZ Alkmaar: Match Preview, Odds & Prediction

Tottenham Hotspur, one of the league favourites, will face AZ Alkmaar, a team currently not doing well, in Thursday's Europa League match. The Spurs will continue their quest for a long-awaited title.

With Saturday's resounding win against London rivals West Ham United, Ange Postecoglou's squad got back on track and are now sitting on maximum points in the tournament.

Previous Matches and Head-to-head

Tottenham needed a win in front of their home fans last weekend after an unimpressive start and a total loss away to Brighton & Hove Albion just before the international break.

Despite a scare early on when West Ham took the lead, Spurs responded to draw level before halftime. In a straightforward 4-1 win, they unleashed a three-goal second-half barrage on a helpless West Ham team.

Spurs should have been far out of sight following their trip to the Amex, but they lost nonetheless, meaning that even with Saturday's victory, they are still four points behind the top four. This leaves them wondering what could have been.

Nevertheless, manager Postecoglou has assured Tottenham supporters that they will win a trophy this season. The club has gotten off to a great start in the league, so the Europa League may be a top priority.

Spurs have won their past seven matches, except their trip to Brighton. During that streak, they also won their first two Europa League games.

On matchday one, Spurs defeated Qarabag 3-0 despite being down to ten men within the first ten minutes. On matchday two, they defeated Ferencvaros on the road with a professional display.

Only Lazio and Lyon have a better goal differential than Spurs, which means they are one of five teams with a perfect UEL record.

Given that Spurs have gone undefeated in all six Europa League matches played in their new stadium, extending that streak to three victories is also a genuine possibility.

Spurs are a dominant force at home in all European tournaments, having won 12 14 matches at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

With Maarten Martens's team now on a four-game losing streak—their worst in 22 years—AZ couldn't have chosen a worse moment to take on their most daunting league task on paper.

Since their first-match victory against Elfsborg, the Alkmaar team has had a tremendous problem keeping up with their increasingly high-quality opponents.

After facing a dominating PSV Eindhoven team over the weekend, their next Europa League match was a trip to Athletic Bilbao, a club that seldom loses at home.

The disappointing part is that they have lost three games in a row, dropping to fifth place in the league. Martens's team is now closer to the relegation zone than PSV, and they have lost both home games against Utrecht and Fortuna Sittard.

Consider it: AZ started the season with 16 points out of a possible 18. That's an incredible figure, and things aren't looking good heading into this trip to London, either.

Arizona lost five of their last six games away from home in European competition, and they have let in at least two goals in each of their eight prior matches played in England.

Tottenham Hotspur vs. AZ Alkmaar Team News

Wilson Odobert and Djed Spence were slated to miss this Spurs match, which is terrible news for Postecoglou's intentions. They were both expected to start so that some of the team's first-choice players could have a break.

Pedro Porro is one of them; the Spurs right defender has started all six of his team's games in a row, including two international matches for Spain and a matchday two away in Hungary.

Postecoglou will be able to rest starting central defenders Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven by starting Radu Dragusin, who will return here after sitting out the Ferencvaros triumph owing to suspension.

Troy Parrott, an AZ striker, will return to the club he played for for seven years only a few months after signing a permanent agreement with the club. He hopes to add to his goal against Elfsborg with another goal on the continent.

Like Bruno Martins Indi, Mexx Merdink, and Wouter Goes, Ibrahim Sadiq is questionable upon his return from Ghanaian service due to injury.

There will be no impact on David Moller Wolfe's availability today due to his red card over the weekend, but the defender will be banned for Sunday's match against Go Ahead Eagles.

Our Predictions

Tottenham to win and over 2.5 goals @ 1.75 on Sky247.ng

Despite an early red card and a late consolation goal from Ferencvaros in their Europa League match against Qarabag, Spurs have been calm and collected so far.

Only one team can emerge victorious from this matchup, given AZ's dismal recent results, problems in England, and Spurs' stellar home record in this tournament.

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