AZ Alkmaar vs Juventus prediction 05.11.2026 | Europa League

AZ Alkmaar finished 7th last season, which was their worst placement in over a decade. This season, after a strong start and winning six in a row, including a Super Cup game against PSV, they slowed significantly. Still, they are doing fine in the Europa League, where they sit in 10th place with six points from the first three rounds. However, in the domestic league, they are without a win in the past four games and are currently in 5th place with 20 points from 11 rounds. While that is a solid number of points, they've clearly slowed down and are coming into this game with poor momentum. The most worrying thing is that they have struggled to secure results against solid teams like Feyenoord, Sunderland, Ajax, and Twente. 

After a 1:0 loss to Ajax, coach Lee-Roy Echteld spoke to the media. He was proud of the performance but was eventually disappointed with the result. He said they were unable to turn possession into clear chances, especially against a defense sitting deep. However, he was positive, saying the work they do will eventually pay off. 

Juventus failed to finish in the top 4 last season and eventually had to settle for only a Europa League appearance. This year, Old Lady made some interesting moves, but they aren't looking much better, at least at this early stage of the season. To be fair, they did well in the Europa League, winning seven points in the first three games. However, in Serie A, Juventus are in 7th place with 17 points from 10 rounds. That is slightly worse per game than last season - 1.81 compared to 1.7 this season. 

However, a big part of Juventus's underperformance is constant injuries. While they do not have new injuries, up to eight players who missed the previous games should remain sidelined. Most of them are a super important part of rotation like Kenan Yildiz, Khephren Thuram, Manuel Locatelli, Nicolas Gonzalez, Francisco Conceicao, and Zeki Celik.