Preview: AZ Alkmaar vs Sparta Prague - prediction, team news, lineups

AZ Alkmaar and Sparta Prague will both look to seize the initiative in the first leg of their Europa Conference League last-16 tie at the AFAS Stadion on Thursday night.

The hosts had to come through a play-off tie against Armenian side Noah to reach the knockout stages, having finished 14th in the league phase, 10 places below their visitors.

Match preview

While AZ have endured a relatively underwhelming league campaign to date, their cup performances have been a major highlight as they remain in the hunt for domestic and European glory.

Currently sitting sixth in the Eredivisie table with eight matches left to play, Leeroy Echteld's men are on course to finish outside the top five for the first time since the 2016-17 season.

However, De Kaasboeren have reached a second successive KNVB Beker final after defeating Telstar in last Wednesday's semi-final, setting up a showdown with NEC next month.

That cup win was sandwiched between league defeats to Utrecht and, most recently, PSV Eindhoven, meaning AZ head into their upcoming European assignment with just one win from their last three matches across all competitions.

Thursday's hosts will hope for a repeat of their last continental outing on home turf, where they dispatched Noah 4-0 to overturn a 1-0 first-leg deficit and make it three wins from four Conference League matches in front of their fans this term, all of which they have managed a clean sheet.

Alongside Strasbourg, Rakow and AEK Athens, Sparta Prague were one of just four teams to claim maximum points in each of their final three matches during the Europa Conference League group stages.

As a result, Brian Priske's men finished fourth in the standings with 13 points, just three behind leaders Strasbourg - a remarkable turnaround considering they collected only four points from their opening three fixtures.

Since returning for his second spell in charge, Priske has won 62.5% of his 40 matches, but his side now trail Slavia Prague by 10 points in the Czech First League following a 3-1 defeat in Sunday's Prague derby.

Prior to that, the Maroons were knocked out of the MOL Cup on penalties by Mlada Boleslav, meaning the Conference League now represents their last realistic chance of silverware this season.

Since winning their first two competitive away games of 2026, Thursday's visitors are winless in the last three, scoring just once in that span, and Sparta will need to address their recent struggles on the road to avoid returning to the epet ARENA with a mountain to climb.

AZ Alkmaar Conference League form:

AZ Alkmaar form (all competitions):

Sparta Prague Conference League form:

Sparta Prague form (all competitions):

Team News

Jordy Clasie remains sidelined with an ankle injury that has kept him out since September, while Mateo Chavez is set to miss a sixth consecutive game due to a shoulder problem.

Japanese international Seiya Maikuma is also unavailable for the hosts, so Elijah Dijkstra will continue to deputise at right-back.

Sven Mijnans’s brace against Noah took him to five Conference League goals for the season - nearly half of AZ’s total of 11 - and the midfielder is certainly one to watch.

Sparta are without Patrik Vydra, who was forced off with an injury shortly after scoring the opener against Slavia Prague.

Vydra joins Elias Cobbaut, Santiago Eneme, Asger Sorensen and Peter Vindahl on the visitors’ treatment table.

Currently battling respective knee problems, Magnus Andersen and Ondrej Penxa are also out of contention for the trip to Alkmaar.

AZ Alkmaar possible starting lineup:

Owusu-Oduro; Dijkstra, Goes, Penetra, Van Duijl; Koopmeiners, Smit; Jensen, Mijnans, Daal; Parrott

Sparta Prague possible starting lineup:

Surovcik; Zeleny, Sevinsky, Uchenna; Rynes, Irving, Kairinen, Kaderabek; Haraslin, Kuchta, Mercado

We say: AZ Alkmaar 3-1 Sparta Prague

Unbeaten in eight of nine home matches this year (W6, D2), AZ have been a formidable force at the AFAS Stadion lately, and the onus is on them to put themselves in the driving seat for this tie.

We are backing the Dutch outfit to make light work of their Czech visitors and put one foot in the quarter-finals.

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