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AZ Alkmaar welcome Celtic to the AFAS Stadion for the second leg of their UEFA Europa League qualification playoff on Thursday.
Celtic claimed an impressive 2-0 victory in the reverse leg back in Scotland and will be looking to carry on with that momentum and book their place in the group stages of the European tournament.
AZ Alkmaar’s hopes of reaching the group stages of the Europa League took a huge blow last time out as they fell to a 2-0 defeat against Scottish powerhouse Celtic in the first leg of the final qualification game.
In an end-to-end affair at the Celtic Park Stadium, Kyogo Furuhashi and James Forrest scored in either half to hand the Bhoys a crucial first-leg victory.
This followed a 1-0 defeat away to RKC Waalwijk in their Eredivisie opener two Saturdays ago.
Meanwhile, Celtic returned to the Scottish Premiership to claim their second consecutive 6-0 victory when they took on St. Mirren last Saturday.
Midfielder David Turnbull put in a headline-grabbing performance as he scored a hat-trick to inspire Celtic to their second win of the season.
Celtic have now won their last six games across all competitions, scoring 24 goals and conceding four.
Head coach Ange Postecoglou will hope his side can keep the juggernaut rolling as they look to book their place in the Europa League group stages.
AZ Alkmaar vs Celtic Head-To-Head
This will be the second-ever meeting between the two sides. Celtic have a head-to-head advantage following last week's 2-0 win.
AZ Alkmaar Form Guide (all competitions): W-W-W-L-L
Celtic Form Guide (all competitions): W-W-W-W-W
AZ Alkmaar vs Celtic Team News
AZ Alkmaar
The hosts will take to the pitch without the services of Owen Wijndal, who has been sidelined through injury.
Injured: Owen Wijndal
Suspended: None
Celtic
The Bhoys remain without Christopher Jullien, Mikey Johnston and Karamoko Dembele, who are all presently injured.
Injured: Christopher Jullien, Mikey Johnston, Karamoko Dembele
Suspended: None
AZ Alkmaar vs Celtic Predicted XI
AZ Alkmaar Predicted XI (4-2-3-1): Hobie Verhulst; Yukinari Sugawara, Bruno Martins Indi, Pantelis Chatzidiakos, Maxim Gullit; Teun Koopmeiners, Jordy Clasie, Dani de Wit; Vangelis Pavlidis, Albert Gudmundsson, Zakaria Aboukhlal
Celtic Predicted XI (4-3-3): Joe Hart; Anthony Ralston, Stephen Welsh, Carl Starfelt, Greg Taylor; Tom Rogic, Callum McGregor, David Turnbull; Liel Abada, Odsonne Edouard, Kyogo Furuhashi
AZ Alkmaar vs Celtic Prediction
Celtic head into the game with the form advantage, having strolled to victory in each of their last six games across all competitions. The hosts have struggled to impress and are without a competitive win this season.
We are tipping Celtic to come away with the win and seal their place in the group stages.
Prediction: AZ Alkmaar 0-2 Celtic
Also See: Fabrizio Romano's Transfer Roundup: Arsenal transfer news, Update on Harry Kane's future and more
