AZ Alkmaar vs Juventus preview: Koopmeiners brothers meet, Spalletti short of players

AZ Alkmaar host Juventus at the AFAS Stadion on Thursday, 5 November (21:00 CET, 20:00 GMT) in round 4 of the Europa League league phase. Both sides arrive in the top half of the table: Juventus are unbeaten with seven points, AZ have six. The evening also has a family story – AZ midfielder Peer Koopmeiners is expected to line up against his older brother Teun, who came through the AZ academy before moving to Italy.

Where the two sides stand

Juventus beat Celta Vigo and NEC Nijmegen in their first two European matches and then drew 2-2 at home with Rennes on 22 October. AZ have won two of their three games, including a 4-0 win over Ararat-Armenia, and lost once.

At home, the form lines run in opposite directions. Juventus come into the game off a 2-0 win over Napoli on Sunday, which followed a 2-0 defeat at Genoa. AZ have taken one point from their last four Eredivisie games, including a 2-0 loss to Twente and a 1-0 defeat at Ajax last Saturday, and have slipped to fifth in the Eredivisie.

	AZ Alkmaar	Juventus
Europa League (after 3)	6 pts (W2 D0 L1)	7 pts (W2 D1 L0)
League	Eredivisie: 5th, 20 pts after 11	Serie A: 2-0 win over Napoli on 1 Nov
Last league match	Ajax 1-0 AZ (31 Oct)	Juventus 2-0 Napoli (1 Nov)
Coach	Leeroy Echteld	Luciano Spalletti
Next league match	AZ v Groningen (8 Nov)	Fiorentina v Juventus (8 Nov)

Team news

Juventus travel with a stretched squad. The Football Faithful and Football Italia both count at least eleven players unavailable, leaving Spalletti with only 15 outfield players. Kenan Yıldız, Khéphren Thuram, Manuel Locatelli, Francisco Conceição, Nicolás González, Zeki Çelik and goalkeeper Kamil Grabara are out, and Weston McKennie stayed in Turin with an adductor strain. Juan Cabal and Kerim Alajbegović travelled after knocks, and four academy players have been added to the bench.

AZ are without suspended goalkeeper Jeroen Zoet and defender Stije Resink, who has a knee injury. Kees Smit and Jizz Hornkamp are doubts. Ayoub Oufkir is available again after serving a domestic suspension.

Possible line-ups (according to Football Italia, citing Sky Sport Italia and La Gazzetta dello Sport):

• AZ: De Busser – Dijkstra, Goes, Schouten, De Wit – P. Koopmeiners, Kwakman – Oufkir, Byskov, Daal – Meerdink
• Juventus: Vicario – Gatti, Bremer, Kelly – Kalulu, Sarr, T. Koopmeiners, Cambiaso – Boga – Woltemade, Kolo Muani

The Football Faithful and Khelnow expect a back four for Juventus instead, so the shape is still open.

A strong home record

AZ are a difficult opponent in Alkmaar: both The Football Faithful and Khelnow put their unbeaten run in home European matches at 17 games. According to Khelnow, this is the first competitive meeting between the two clubs.

Our take

On paper Juventus are favourites, but the injury list changes the picture. With so few outfield players, Spalletti has little room to rotate before Sunday's trip to Fiorentina, and much depends on Teun Koopmeiners and Pierre Kalulu covering several roles. AZ need a response after a poor run in the league, and their home form in Europe gives them a real chance. A Juventus win would take them to ten points and close to the top eight; a home win would lift AZ above the Italians in the table.

Follow AZ Alkmaar vs Juventus live on EZCO, with the Europa League table updated in real time.