Alkmaar v Lyon Betting Tips: Dutch side overlooked in the betting

Considering some of the big names that were in the hat for the knockout draw, Lyon were probably happy in receiving a tie against Dutch outfit AZ Alkmaar; however, with the French club somewhat out of sorts lately, this first-leg at AFAS Stadion is unlikely to be a walk in the park for Bruno Génésio’s men.

Alkmaar are enjoying a fairly decent campaign domestically and, on their own patch, look to have been underestimated in the betting. Lyon are heavy favourites, but the bet that catches the eye is ‘Alkmaar Draw No Bet’ at 2/1.

The Dutch side didn’t exactly cover themselves in glory when qualifying from Group D, in fact, they just about scraped through ahead of Israeli club Maccabi Tel-Aviv, but they’ve generally gone well at home this season and have scored plenty of goals. On top of this, they face a Lyon side who’ve won just one of their last five away matches and, having dropped out of the Champions League, you could easily question whether the French side really want to be in this competition or not, especially since they’re chasing a place in the top-three domestically.

As they currently sit in 4th position, Alkmaar are going well in Holland and are currently the division’s third highest scorers when playing at home (20 goals in ten games). Against a Lyon side who’ve conceded nine goals in their last five on the road, it wouldn’t be at all surprising if the hosts experienced plenty of attacking joy in this one.

Having recently picked up an injury, Valbuena, who is arguably Lyon’s best player, is unlikely to feature here, while it really wouldn’t be a surprise if the visitors rested a number of their key figures for this first-leg.

During the group stages, Alkmaar did pretty much all of their best work in front of a home crowd, scoring five of their six goals at AFAS Stadion. The hosts will know that getting a result in this first-leg is important and they’re fancied to put in a better performance than their outsider-price-tag suggests.

Quite frankly, with just one win in their last five, Lyon aren’t a team who’re thriving right now and they certainly don’t warrant odds-on favourtism here. At the prices, backing the hosts on the ‘Draw No Bet’ market is way to go.

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