Preview: AZ Alkmaar vs Slovan Bratislava - prediction, team news, lineups

Aiming to bounce back from defeats in their respective Conference League opener, AZ Alkmaar and Slovan Bratislava will lock horns at the AFAS Stadion on Thursday.

Since losing their European curtain-raisers, both teams have picked up back-to-back wins on the domestic front and will enter their upcoming encounter brimming with confidence.

Match preview

AZ began life in the Conference League with a 4-0 thrashing at the hands of AEK Larnaca, condemning them to consecutive losses for the first time since April and extending their winless streak at the time to four games.

A 2-1 victory over Eredivisie newcomers Telstar in their subsequent outing was a much-welcome but largely expected return to winning ways for Maarten Martens's men just before the international break, after which they picked up undoubtedly their most impressive result of the season so far with a 2-0 away triumph at Ajax last time out.

The Cheeseheads turned on the style in the first half for the second game running, as goals from Weslley Patati and Troy Parrott had them in the driving seat after 45 minutes at the Johan Cruyff Arena.

Saturday's victory was the perfect boost for AZ ahead of their sophomore continental involvement on home turf, where they have scored 12 goals across their last three European outings.

In their first-ever meeting against Slovakian opponents, Thursday's hosts will be keen to kickstart their Conference League journey with all three points before returning to league action three days later at home to FC Utrecht.

Off the back of missing out on Conference League football last season for the first time since the tournament's inaugural edition in 2021, Slovan Bratislava were back in Europe's third-tier competition after crashing out to Young Boys in the Europa League qualifiers.

Vladimir Weiss's men were handed a tricky assignment against debutants Strasbourg on the opening matchday and suffered a 2-1 defeat, although they have since responded by beating Piestany and Trnava by a combined score of 7-0.

Consequently, the Sky Blues are now unbeaten in seven of their last eight matches across all competitions leading up to Thursday's trip to Alkmaar, where they will face off against Dutch opponents for the first time since the 2010 Europa League playoffs.

Slovan were beaten in both legs by Ajax on that occasion, including a 5-0 defeat in Amsterdam, leaving the Slovakian outfit with an ugly memory of their last visit to the Netherlands.

Having opened the scoring in four of their last five matches, Slovan will be targeting another fast start on Thursday, although they will be going up against a side who have broken the deadlock on all but two occasions over their last nine outings.

AZ Alkmaar Conference League form:

AZ Alkmaar form (all competitions):

Slovan Bratislava Conference League form:

Slovan Bratislava form (all competitions):

Team News

Alexandre Penetra is unavailable to play a part in Thursday's affair after he was sent off two minutes into AZ's Conference League opener.

Jordy Clasie and Mexx Meerdink are also out of contention for the home side, who have been unable to call upon Seiya Maikuma this season.

Weslley Patati came off with an injury scare in the final knockings of the defeat to Ajax last time out, making the 22-year-old a doubt to feature.

Vladimir Weiss was absent from Slovan's matchday one clash against Strasbourg, and is also missing through suspension for the journey to Alkmaar.

Nino Marcelli came off the bench to score against Trnava but could be rewarded with a start here, having now been directly involved in seven goals in his last eight outings for club and country.

AZ Alkmaar possible starting lineup:

Owuso-Oduro; De Wit, Penetra, Goes, Kasius; Smit, Mijnans, Koopmeiners; Jensen, Parrott, Sadiq

Slovan Bratislava possible starting lineup:

Takac; Cruz, Bajric, Kashia, Blackman; Ibrahim, Savvidis, Ignatenko; Ofori, Mak, Barseghyan

We say: AZ Alkmaar 2-0 Slovan Bratislava

AZ Alkmaar seem to have shaken off a mini bump in the road and are increasingly looking like the team that went 12 games unbeaten earlier in the campaign.

A home outing against an in-form Slovan outfit should pose some challenge to the hosts, but we are backing them to scale through with relative comfort.

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