Dnipro-1 and AZ Alkmaar kick off their respective 2022-23 Europa Conference League journeys with a meeting at the Kosicka Futbalova Arena on Thursday.
The teams have been drawn in Group E of the sophomore edition of Europe's newest club tournament alongside debutants Apollon Limassol and Vaduz.
Match preview
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AZ Alkmaar saw off the threat of FC Emmen in a comprehensive 3-0 victory when the sides went head-to-head at De Oude Meerdijk on Sunday afternoon.
Pascal Jansen's men flew out of the blocks and got the job done in the first half through goals from Jens Odgaard, Dani de Wit and Tijjani Reijnders.
The Cheeseheads have moved up to third place in the Eredivisie table, level on points with Feyenoord and two behind Ajax at the top of the standings.
Awaiting AZ next is the start of their continental commitment as they look to improve upon last season's round-of-16 exit at the hands of Bodo/Glimt.
Off the back of four straight victories away from home across all competitions, Thursday's visitors make the trip to Slovakia with the wind in their sails.
Dnipro-1 continued their perfect start to the new league season thanks to a 2-0 victory over Veres-Rine at the Avanhard Stadium on Saturday.
Oleksandr Kucher's men took the lead on the stroke of half time through Yanis Hamache before Volodymyr Adamyuk got on the scoresheet two minutes into the second period.
Consequently, Ukraine's most recently created top-flight team are fifth in the standings, three points shy of Zorya Luhansk albeit with a game in hand.
With just one defeat in their most recent six games on home turf, Thursday's hosts will be looking to secure yet another impressive result in front of their fans.
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Team News
Jesper Karlsson and Zinho Vanheusden remain ruled out of action for AZ as they continue to nurse muscle and ankle injuries respectively.
Riechedly Bazoer is also set to miss out for the away side through a muscle problem which has seen him miss each of the last six games.
Twenty-three-year-old Jens Odgaard is looking to find the back of the net for the third game running, making him one to keep an eye on here.
Algerian defender Yanis Hamache put on a superb display on his debut for Dnipro-1 last time out, and he will be aiming to deliver the goods once again.
Dnipro-1 possible starting lineup:
Araujo; Adamyuk, Svatok, Sarapiy, Busanello; Gutsulyak, Pikhalyonok, Babenko, Hamache; Dovbyk, Gromov
AZ Alkmaar possible starting lineup:
Verhulst; Chatzidiakos, Beukema, Dekker, Kerkez; Clasie, Reijnders; Evjen, De Wit, Van Brederode; Odgaard
We say: Dnipro-1 1-3 AZ Alkmaar
AZ Alkmaar are currently firing on all cylinders and are huge favourites to get the job done here. We are backing the away side to secure all three points in a relatively comfortable manner.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
