Europa League, round of 16, second leg, Thursday, March 13, 2025 at 9:00 p.m.
Tottenham lost the first leg 0-1 to Alkmaar, but that was only the first 90 minutes. When they meet again at home, I expect the London team to show a different face.
Overall, the English team has a much better squad and AZ’s away performance in the Europa League so far has not been impressive.
I expect that in the end the favorites will advance to the next round. Bwin offers a strong quote for this bet.
At odds of 1.50, you can bet on the Londoners’ victory, which will be necessary to reach the next round. After all, last Thursday it was 1-0 to Alkmaar. The guests start the match at 5.75, which is a very unattractive odds.
After all, AZ only needs a draw (4.60) to advance. At home, the Kaasboeren have the second-best defensive record after league leaders Ajax, but they won’t be relying on their defense alone on Thursday.
No other team conceded a goal at the weekend, but there were no matches either due to a postponement. This also means more regeneration time before the trip to London. Meanwhile, the Spurs struggled against Bournemouth, but managed to draw 2-2 after trailing 2-0.
Similar to Manchester United, hardly anything is coming together in this Premier League season. Both top clubs are only in 13th and 14th place with 34 points. The Europa League is their last hope of qualifying for the Champions League next year.
This rule, that the winner is allowed to compete in the Champions League, is not even that old, but I think it’s great because then the bigger clubs also give their all in the Europa League.
Based on their recent form, I expect Tottenham to put up a big fight in the second leg, and as soon as the equalizer has been scored, I am convinced that Heung-Min Son, Mathys Tel and Co. will push forward to score the next goal.
For the hosts to score twice, we are offering 1.50 at Bwin, where you can regularly enjoy great promotions such as odds boosts and free bets. For example, you can take part in the wheel of fortune every day and win prizes.
I see Tottenham as being ahead overall and value in terms of the odds for progressing, although I expect Alkmaar to take advantage of their good starting position. In other words, they will counterattack and try to show some offensive actions themselves.
After all, defense is Tottenham’s weak point. With 55 goals, they have conceded the second-most goals in the Premier League, but they have also let in 41 goals. And in the Europa League, Tottenham have allowed the sixth-most shots on average.
Therefore, the goal of both teams is also a very interesting rate, which turns out to be very lucrative at 1.73. If we combine the Tottenham victory with this bet, we get a 2.90. The duel in the league phase was less spectacular.
Tottenham have already played Alkmaar at home, beating them 1-0 after a Richarlison penalty. The Londoners were the better team by a long way, and AZ were lucky with the result.
Away from home, things have not gone so well in the Europa League overall, and the current results do not favor Alkmaar. They have conceded 11 goals in the last five away games alone. Only at Willem II did they keep a clean sheet.
If you want to avoid the 1X2 market, you could add the “Over 2.5 goals” option to the goals scored by both teams for even better odds, to get a whopping 2.05 odds. I expect it to be quite loud.
Conclusion: Tottenham have some catching up to do! In the league phase, the Spurs dominated against Alkmaar at home. In the first leg, it looked quite different. However, I expect a clear reaction in London, also to keep the chance of making it to the international business in 2025/26.
Alkmaar will not hide, although they have the second-best defense in the Dutch league, but they will try to score a few goals themselves to secure a place in the last 16.
But I am convinced that class will make the difference here and that the hosts will turn the tables. Away from home, it didn’t look good recently against AZ and in the Europa League overall.
My Tottenham Alkmaar tip: Tottenham will advance.
