AZ Alkmaar travels to Rome on Tuesday for the first leg of their Europa Conference League last 16 clash with Lazio.
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AZ reached the last 16 of the competition after breezing to top spot in their group ahead of Dnipro -1, Apollon Limassol, and Vaduz.
Pascal Jansen’s side will now face much stiffer competition in Serie A side Lazio, who defeated Cluj 1-0 on aggregate in the last round. Coached by Maurizio Sarri, Lazio dropped into the competition after finishing third in their Europa League group containing Feyenoord, Midtjylland, and Sturm Graz.
AZ goes into the game on the back of a 1-0 victory over Vitesse which keeps them well in the title race. They are currently third and five points off Feyenoord.
Lazio booked one of their most impressive victories of the season on Friday, coming away from league leaders Napoli with a 1-0 win. They are third in Serie A but 17 points behind Napoli.
Team News
Sarri has one major injury concern ahead of the clash with star striker Ciro Immobile set to miss out with muscle fatigue.
Pedro could come into the attack, while Sergej Milinkovic-Savic is the key man in the Lazio midfield
Possible Lazio line-up: Maximiano; Marusic, Casale, Romagnoli, Lazzari; Milinkovic-Savic, Cataldi, Luis Alberto; Felipe Anderson, Pedro, Zaccagni
AZ has a raft of injuries with Sam Beukema, Maxim Dekker, Zinho Vanheusden, Riechedly Bazoer, Bruno Martins Indi, and Dani de Wit all out of the clash.
18-year-old Wouter Goes is likely to start at centre-back again while Sven Mijnans will make his European debut.
Possible AZ line-up: Ryan, Sugawara, Kerkez, Goes, Hatzidiakos, Clasie, Reijnders, Mijnans, Karlsson, Odgaard, Pavlidis
Odds
Lazio 73/100 Draw 11/4 AZ Alkmaar 15/4
Can AZ Alkmaar come away with a victory?
AZ Alkmaar have performed well in the last few weeks despite a number of key defenders being out injured. However, a trip to Rome is the toughest test they will have had this season.
Going forward, AZ have the players to cause Lazio issues and the absence of Immobile is a boost to the defence.
Jansen will be hoping his side can keep it tight and nick a goal on the counter, but even a narrow one goal defeat wouldn’t be the worst result to take back to Alkmaar. The key match will be in the AFAS Stadion next week if AZ can keep the score close.
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