Preview: AEK Larnaca vs AZ Alkmaar - prediction, team news, lineups

AEK Larnaca and AZ Alkmaar will seek a winning start to the 2025-26 Conference League group stages when they face off at the AEK Arena on Thursday.

The home side had to settle for a place in UEFA's newest competition after missing out on a place in the Europa League, while the visitors made light work of Levski Sofia in the final Conference League qualifying round.

Match preview

Winning seven of their nine clashes across all competitions between the start of August and mid-September, AZ Alkmaar made a flying start to the season, but have had their momentum significantly slowed down in recent weeks.

A 3-3 stalemate against Eredivisie leaders Feyenoord two Sundays ago was a decent return for Maarten Martens's men, who have, however, since drawn 2-2 against Zwolle and lost 2-1 to NEC over the last seven days.

The Cheeseheads are without a victory in three matches, conceding seven times; for context, they had shipped only five goals in eight encounters before that.

Still, AZ will draw confidence from the fact that their attack continues to fire, as they last drew blanks in a competitive game in April, during which they failed to win any of their four outings, most notably the KNVB Beker final against Go Ahead Eagles.

Off the back of their defeat in Nijmegen last time out, Thursday's visitors will head to Larnaca aiming to avoid back-to-back losses on the road for the first time since March.

After seeing off Partizan Belgrade, Celje and Legia Warsaw in the first three Europa League qualifying rounds, AEK were comprehensively beaten by SK Brann in the playoffs following a 6-1 aggregate defeat.

As a result, Imanol Idiakez's men are back in the Conference League two-and-a-half years on from their first foray back in 2023, which ended in a round-of-16 exit to eventual champions West Ham United.

Despite the obvious disappointment of not having secured Europa League football, the Yellow-greens have made a bright start to their domestic season with 10 points from a possible 15 after Saturday's 4-0 demolition of Krasava thanks to a Riad Bajic double either side of strikes from Hrvoje Milicevic and Yerson Chacon.

Milicevic's strike last time out was his third in four appearances, and the Bosnian has already set a new personal best of three league goals for AEK after just five matches.

Thursday's hosts have gone into the interval ahead in four of their last five matches, although they are set to face a stern test for first-half supremacy against an opposing side that have opened the scoring on all but one occasion over their last seven outings.

AEK Larnaca form (all competitions):

AZ Alkmaar form (all competitions):

Team News

Thirty-three-year-old Enric Saborit was sent off on his last continental appearance for AEK against Brann, ruling him out of Thursday's contest.

This should see Valentin Roberge come into the lineup to partner Milicevic in the heart of the hosts' defence.

Angel Garcia remains on the treatment table with a muscle problem, while Karol Angielski, Enzo Cabrera and Kewin Komar are also out of contention.

Troy Parrott and Seiya Maikuma are still facing extended spells on the sidelines for AZ as they continue to nurse knee injuries.

Dutchman Peer Koopmeiners was subbed off at half time against NEC with an injury scare, making his availability for the visitors uncertain.

AEK Larnaca possible starting lineup:

Alomerovic; Ekpolo, Milicevic, Roberge, Gnali; Roberge, Gustavo, Suarez; Ivanovic, Miramon, Chacon

AZ Alkmaar possible starting lineup:

Owusu-Oduro; De Wit, Penetra, Goes, Kasius; Mijnans, Smit, Clasie; Daal, Meerdink, Patati

We say: AEK Larnaca 1-2 AZ Alkmaar

AZ have hit a bump in the road of late, but the Dutch outfit possess enough quality to turn things around.

A win on Thursday would be a good starting point, and we can see the visitors narrowly edging out their hosts to claim all three points when all is said and done.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.