Get ready for the return leg of the Europa League Play-offs between AZ Alkmaar and Celtic. This should be an interesting match and this preview contains everything you need to know. Read on!
We should expect both teams to be fresh and ready for this match, as there is some time since both teams last played. Let's have a look at how the teams are doing!
It's time to recharge all electronic entertainment devices for Celtic, who are travelling more than 900 kilometers to play this game.
AZ Alkmaar form and stats
Alkmaar was eliminated in the group stage last season in the Europa League.Ever since the Ajax game AZ Alkmaar has been unbeatable here at AFAS Stadion producing seven straight wins.
Alkmaar lost their last game at Celtic after a 0-2 scoreline.
Heartbreak before that as AZ Alkmaar lost 0-1 at RKC Waalwijk's place.The bookmakers consider this a fairly even contest. One could say only the home advantage separates the teams. It could be relevant to look at how Alkmaar have performed in matches similar to this (as small favourites). Our database has found two matches with the results: Won one, drawn one and lost zero.
Alkmaar are traveling soon after this match as the Eredivisie match at SC Heerenveen awaits in three days.
Celtic form and stats
The traveling awayteam has defeated Jablonec in order to reach play-offs of Europa League. Celtic was sent out of Europa League in the group stage last season.Total Europa League statistics for Celtic: 3 wins, 0 draws and 0 losses.
Liel Abada (2), Odsonne Édouard and David Turnbull (3) scored in Celtic's previous match, the home game against St. Mirren that ended 6-0. Midfield player David Turnbull was the top player of the team with a match rating of 10.0/10. Turnbull scored three goals, hit the woodwork once, hit four key passes and had 72 successful passes (of 81 total). As mentioned above, Celtic was the only team on the pitch versus St. Mirren in their previous game, winning 6-0. This could be a tougher task. David Turnbull certainly enjoyed Celtic's last game versus St. Mirren, appearing multiple times in the match report with three goals and the 6-0 victory.
That result followed a home victory 2-0 versus AZ Alkmaar in the Europa League.As mentioned above, this is an open game with no clear favourite. We have found three similar matches played by Celtic in our archives, and the results are: zero wins for Celtic, zero draws and three defeats.
There might be some complaints about the fixture list from the Celtic manager A. Postecoglou as the team has another away game coming up in only three days, this time against Rangers.
Head 2 Head
This happened when the participants met earlier this season; Celtic - Alkmaar 2-0.Top Goalscorers
  D. Turnbull 3 goals |  K. Furuhashi 3 goals |  A. Ralston 2 goals |
AZ Alkmaar missing players
Celtic missing players
| AZ Alkmaar | Celtic | ||||||
| Total | Home | Statistics | Stat | Away | Total | ||
| 25 | 14 | Played | P | 12 | 25 | ||
| 18 | 14 | Won | W | 3 | 12 | ||
| 2 | 0 | Drew | D | 4 | 6 | ||
| 5 | 0 | Lost | L | 5 | 7 | ||
| 50 | 39 | Scored | S | 13 | 51 | ||
| 17 | 6 | Conceded | C | 16 | 27 | ||
| 96% | 100% | Over 0.5 | O 0.5 | 75% | 88% | ||
| 72% | 86% | Over 1.5 | O 1.5 | 67% | 76% | ||
| 48% | 64% | Over 2.5 | O 2.5 | 50% | 56% | ||
| 28% | 36% | Over 3.5 | O 3.5 | 25% | 36% | ||
| 20% | 29% | Over 4.5 | O 4.5 | 17% | 28% | ||
| 36% | 36% | BTTS | BTTS | 58% | 44% | ||
| 48% | 64% | Clean Sheets | C S | 25% | 44% | ||
| 20% | 0% | Failed to Score | F T | 42% | 24% | ||
| 5.3 | 4.8 | Corners for (avg) | C F | 5.9 | 7.5 | ||
| 3.8 | 3.6 | Corners against (avg) | C A | 3.5 | 3.4 | ||
| 1 | 0.8 | Yellow cards (avg) | Y C | 1.3 | 1.1 | ||
| 2 | 1 | Red cards | R C | 1 | 2 | ||
| 12.4 | 12.8 | Shots (avg) | S ( | 13.5 | 16.3 | ||
| 5.6 | 7 | Shots on Target (avg) | S O | 4.5 | 6 | ||
| 35% | 39% | Goal Efficiency | G E | 22% | 34% | ||
| Total | Home | Away | |||||||||||||||||||
| # | Team | MP | W | D | L | F | A | MP | W | D | L | F | A | MP | W | D | L | F | A | +/- | P |
| 1 | PSV | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 6 |
| 2 | SC Heerenveen | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 6 |
| 3 | FC Utrecht | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 4 |
| 4 | FC Groningen | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| 5 | Ajax | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 3 |
| 6 | Feyenoord | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 3 |
| 7 | Fortuna Sittard | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| 8 | Vitesse | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| 9 | RKC Waalwijk | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| 10 | NEC | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | -3 | 3 |
| 11 | Heracles | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | -2 | 1 |
| 12 | Sparta Rotterdam | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | -4 | 1 |
| 13 | FC Twente | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | -1 | 0 |
| 14 | AZ Alkmaar | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | -1 | 0 |
| 15 | Go Ahead Eagles | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 | 0 |
| 16 | PEC Zwolle | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | -3 | 0 |
| 17 | SC Cambuur | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | -4 | 0 |
| 18 | Willem II | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -4 | 0 |