There is still all to play for among the four teams in Group E of the Europa Conference League, given the level of points and goal differential separating them.

Although AZ Alkmaar has scored more goals than their opponents, they are still ahead going into Thursday night’s match since Aston Villa has won their last four games.

It was a game to forget for AZ Alkmaar as they let a three-goal advantage slip in a wild seven-goal thriller against Zrinjski to start their Europa Conference League season.

Legia Warszawa, however, was well-received by the Eredivisie team, who displayed a far superior defensive effort in keeping a clean sheet and gaining three points.

Thanks to a goal from Vangelis Pavlidis, AZ Alkmaar managed to maintain their lead even after Mayckel Lahdo was sent off.

The Greek striker has proven to be a serious threat this season across all competitions, as evidenced by his hat-trick on the weekend, which helped AZ Alkmaar to a 3-0 league victory.

The club should feel a great deal of confidence from the outcome as they try to separate themselves from their Premier League rivals.

Nevertheless, the visitors enter this match in excellent form, as demonstrated by their 4-1 victory against West Ham United the weekend after the last international break.

The attacking prowess of Unai Emery’s team was demonstrated by goals from Douglas Luiz, Ollie Watkins, and Leon Bailey, demonstrating their all-around offensive ability.

They now have four games without a loss in all competitions thanks to that victory, and they plan to maintain that streak as they attempt to climb the European group table.

Aston Villa and their opponents played quite identical first two games, with the former losing 3-2 and the latter winning 1-0 thanks to tightening up at the back.

Emi Martinez, the World Cup winner, will be striving for another clean sheet to provide his colleagues with the best opportunity to win the competition on a string. Martinez has a lot of skill in goal.