MANCHESTER UNITED continue their Europa League campaign on Thursday night at AZ Alkmaar in the Netherlands. Chris Clark (@ChrisClark1975) shares his betting thoughts.
AZ Alkmaar v Manchester United | Thursday 3rd October 2019, 17:55 | BT Sport
Ahh… the Louis Van Gaal derby!
For some reason it's hard for English clubs to get motivated for Europa League ties, not so their European counterparts. AZ will be bang up for this, they're currently sitting in third, one point behind the big two of Ajax and PSV.
AZ have only lost once in the league this season, and in fact have not conceded in their last three league games. Which doesn't particularly bode well for a travelling Manchester United team who haven't scored more than one goal in a match since the opening day of the season.
United will be missing Anthony Martial and Paul Pogba on Thursday night, and also have a half-fit Marcus Rashford up front. You could see United resting Rashford for this game, as he will be needed on Sunday away to Newcastle. So with that in mind, you would imagine the United front three being Daniel James, Juan Mata and Mason Greenwood.
AZ won't lose any sleep over facing that front three. The Dutch team have only conceded three times in the Eredivisie after nine league games.
Going forward AZ have the joint second-highest scorer in the Eredivisie in Oussama Idrissil he has six goals this season, and his strike partner Myron Boadu has four in nine. Idrissi is averaging three shots pergame on-target in the league, and he's 16/5 to score anytime with Paddy Power.
I just cannot get enthused for Manchester United in this game, and fully expect them to come unstuck again. And it wouldn't be surprising if they came a cropper against their in-form Dutch counterparts in a low-scoring encounter. So I'll have an interest in the 11/2 (Coral) on AZ to win and Under 2.5 Goals.
Best Bets
AZ Alkmaar v Manchester United – AZ Alkmaar to win and Under 2.5 Goals (11/2 Coral)
AZ Alkmaar v Manchester United – Oussama Idrissi to score at anytime (16/5 Paddy Power)
