AZ Alkmaar vs Lazio

Sports Mole previews Thursday's Europa Conference League clash between AZ Alkmaar and Lazio, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.

[Maurizio Sarri](/people/maurizio-sarri/)'s men face an uphill task after losing the reverse fixture in Rome 2-1, leaving the Biancocelesti trailing against the Dutch side, who seldom lose on their turf. [Yukinari Sugawara](/people/yukinari-sugawara/) was suspended for AZ in their Eredivisie game with Groningen over the weekend, and the right-back is likely to return to the side in place of [Fedde de Jong](/people/fedde-de-jong/). [AZ Alkmaar](/football/az/) are favourites to progress to the [ Europa Conference League](/football/europa-conference-league/) quarter-finals when they host [Lazio](/football/lazio/) at the AFAS Stadion on Thursday.