Southampton vs AZ Alkmaar Prediction and Betting Tips | July 29th 2023

Southampton will host AZ Alkmaar at the St. Mary's Stadium on Saturday in a friendly clash between the two teams.

The home side endured an abysmal campaign last season as they suffered relegation from the English top-flight. They finished rock-bottom in the Premier League standings with just 25 points from 38 games and will play in the Championship next season for the first time since the 2011-12 campaign.

Southampton will play their fifth and final pre-season game this weekend before they return to competitive action against Sheffield Wednesday next Friday and will be looking to round things up on a positive note.

AZ Alkmaar, meanwhile, enjoyed a largely solid Eredivisie campaign last season and will play in the Conference League qualifiers this season. They finished fourth in the league table with 67 points from 34 games, their second-highest points tally in the last 14 seasons in the Dutch top-flight.

Following Saturday's game, the Kaaskoppen will face Bologna in their final pre-season game before the new season kicks off.

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Southampton vs AZ Alkmaar Head-to-Head and Key Numbers

• Saturday's game will mark the first-ever meeting between Southampton and AZ.
• The hosts' last meeting against Dutch opposition came back in July 2019 when they faced Feyenoord in a friendly clash which they won 3-1 via goals from Che Adams, Maya Yoshida and Sofiane Boufal.
• AZ have had 16 competitive meetings against English opposition. They have won just two of those games and have lost nine times while their five matchups have ended in draws.
• The Saints won just two of their 19 home league games last season.
• The Kaaskoppen picked up 35 points on the road in the Eredivisie last season, the second-highest in the competition.
• Southampton had the second-worst defensive record in the Premier League last season with a goal concession tally of 73.

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Southampton vs AZ Alkmaar Prediction

Southampton's latest result ended a run of back-to-back unbeaten outings and they will now be looking to bounce back. They have, however, failed to impress on home turf in recent times and could struggle here.

AZ, meanwhile, are on a four-game unbeaten streak after losing three of their previous five matches. They are the stronger side ahead of Saturday's game and should win this one.

Prediction: Southampton 1-3 AZ Alkmaar

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Southampton vs AZ Alkmaar Betting Tips

Tip 1 - Result: AZ Alkmaar to win

Tip 2 - Goals - Over/under 2.5 - Over 2.5 goals (Five of the visitors' last six matches have produced more than 2.5 goals)

Tip 3 - Both teams to score: YES (Both sides have found the back of the net in five of the hosts' last six matches)