Two clubs chasing UEFA Europa League glory will do battle today in a cup match between AZ Alkmaar and Anzhi Makhachkala. The Round of 16 clash scheduled for 4 p.m. ET will be held at AFAS Stadion in Alkmaar and can be live streamed here.
After spending five nearly five years in Russia managing both Zenit St Petersburg and the national team, AZ Alkmaar manager Dick Advocaat is welcoming Russian outfit Anzi Makhachkala to Holland with open arms. His tactics, however, remain sharp ahead of today’s confrontation (h/t to Sky Sports). “I know Anzhi have been pretty good, I saw them beat Rubin Kazan on Sunday. We have also viewed the matches between Anzhi and Racing Genk [in the previous round],” Advocaat said. “We must ensure that we do not fall into the trap as Genk did. They played at home with too much risk,” he added.
“Anzhi play with a lot of people behind the ball and are a pure counter-attacking team which is very compact. They are not the team two years ago, when Guus Hiddink was coach there, they are a really different team but their quality is still strong.”
Will that strong quality be enough to propel Anzhi to a road victory, or will Alkmaar hold serve at the AFAS Stadion? Tell us @SportsWN
Tactical Preview
Player to Watch: American striker Aron Johannsson is purely scoring goals for fun at this point. The 23-year-old has 16 goals in 26 appearances for AZ Alkmaar this season.
AZ Alkmaar Projected Lineup (4-3-3): Esteban; Poulsen, Viergever, Gouweleeuw, Johansson; Elm, Ortiz, Gudelj; Beerens, Johannsson, Berghuis
Anzhi Makhachkala Projected Lineup (3-5-2): Kerzhakov; Gadzhibekov, Epureanu, Grigalava; Mkrtchyan, Bystrov, Aliev, Smolov, Eschenko; Akjmedov, Bukharov
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