2023/2024 Conference League Group E: AZ Alkmaar - Aston Villa - Legia - Zrinjski

[Dragonite]

Honestly i'm not sure if sometimes you are just trolling to see the reaction of other users or if you really think what you write

I knew that it would be controversial. Lots of people here consider putting a "bottom bottom" above a "top top" some sort of sacrilege.

If it makes them happier, this season in Conference League I only did it once, while last season I did it twice (I was right about one of them, with Partizan advancing from a group with Koln and Nice, and wrong about the other with West Ham not advancing from its group).


I'm already warning them though that for the CL and EL predictions I'll probably do it again sometimes.

[Dragonite]

Well, we'll see, but I thought you liked to look at players and managers too.

I do, in CL and EL, not in Conference League.

In Conference League the majority of players and managers and even teams are debutants.

[Greyn]

Nothing is sure in football, but I will be extremely shocked if Aston Villa with Emery won't finish at the top in this group. I think they will secure first spot after first possible occasion.

AZ and Legia should fight for the 2nd place. I give better chance to AZ, but they were far from convincing in the qualifiers. Here I see some room for a surprise by Legia to overtake them, assuming that their form will not improve significantly later on this autumn.

As for Zrinjski, I don't think they will finish with a 0-0-6 record in this group. I expect they will be a tough nut to crack at home for both AZ and Legia and are likely to steal some points from one of them or even both. Who will lose points in Mostar, Legia or AZ or both, will reduce its chances to finish 2nd.

I think you're overestimating Aston Villa and underestimating AZ Alkmaar.

AZ Alkmaar won its group last season, and it also won its group two seasons ago. They're the best team in Conference League history.

Last but not least, they're the UEFA Youth League champions. They have several talented youngsters ready to start playing for their senior team.


And they have an extra incentive compared to Aston Villa. They know that everything that they accomplish here will probably benefit them in the future (with Netherlands rising in the country rankings, AZ Alkmaar is precisely the kind of club that benefits from this rise, alongside Feyenoord and PSV).

Well, Dragonite, we have a saying in Poland "If a few people tell you that you are drunk, then you have to start believing them, that you are indeed drunk". It is a good thing and very important to have own opinion, but you constantly refuse to take arguments of other users into consideration. At least that is my impression, no offence intended.

I have a lot of respect to you for your almost unlimited knowledge about teams, players, statistics, etc. I think you can beat every forum member here in this regard. However, we have an another saying in Poland - "Only the cow doesn't change its mind". Please give it a thought, or ignore my post if you want.

[Firnen]

Prediction

1. Aston Villa
2. AZ
3. Legia Warsaw
4. Zrinjski

[bugylibicska]

1.Aston Villa
2.Legia
3.AZ
4.Zrinjski

[bugylibicska]

Nothing is sure in football, but I will be extremely shocked if Aston Villa with Emery won't finish at the top in this group. I think they will secure first spot after first possible occasion.

AZ and Legia should fight for the 2nd place. I give better chance to AZ, but they were far from convincing in the qualifiers. Here I see some room for a surprise by Legia to overtake them, assuming that their form will not improve significantly later on this autumn.

As for Zrinjski, I don't think they will finish with a 0-0-6 record in this group. I expect they will be a tough nut to crack at home for both AZ and Legia and are likely to steal some points from one of them or even both. Who will lose points in Mostar, Legia or AZ or both, will reduce its chances to finish 2nd.

I think you're overestimating Aston Villa and underestimating AZ Alkmaar.

AZ Alkmaar won its group last season, and it also won its group two seasons ago. They're the best team in Conference League history.

Last but not least, they're the UEFA Youth League champions. They have several talented youngsters ready to start playing for their senior team.


And they have an extra incentive compared to Aston Villa. They know that everything that they accomplish here will probably benefit them in the future (with Netherlands rising in the country rankings, AZ Alkmaar is precisely the kind of club that benefits from this rise, alongside Feyenoord and PSV).

Well, Dragonite, we have a saying in Poland "If a few people tell you that you are drunk, then you have to start believing them, that you are indeed drunk". It is a good thing and very important to have own opinion, but you constantly refuse to take arguments of other users into consideration. At least that is my impression, no offence intended.

I have a lot of respect to you for your almost unlimited knowledge about teams, players, statistics, etc. I think you can beat every forum member here in this regard. However, we have an another saying in Poland - "Only the cow doesn't change its mind". Please give it a thought, or ignore my post if you want.

Information is not knowledge. This is a classic case for drowning in information, but starved for knowledge.

[BorisMo]

Most people think Zrinjski will get demolished by everyone in this group, but in last 15 years nobody managed to embarrass us, and we played against many stronger teams. To be fair, none of them were as strong as Aston Villa, but still. We played once against Dutch team, Utrecht, few years ago and knocked them out, also knocked out Olimpija. We also beat Malmo at home and Slovan twice, drew against Legia, Ludogorets, LASK, Slovan, Maribor, Sheriff..., even tho they all knocked us out, we were still hard to beat. I'm not saying we won't finish last in the group, we probably will, but if anybody comes to Mostar thinking they already have 3 points, they might get burnt. As a Zrinjski fan, it's privilege to be here and play against these respectable teams, and if we get few points, it's just a bonus.

[bugylibicska]

Most people think Zrinjski will get demolished by everyone in this group, but in last 15 years nobody managed to embarrass us, and we played against many stronger teams. To be fair, none of them were as strong as Aston Villa, but still. We played once against Dutch team, Utrecht, few years ago and knocked them out, also knocked out Olimpija. We also beat Malmo at home and Slovan twice, drew against Legia, Ludogorets, LASK, Slovan, Maribor, Sheriff..., even tho they all knocked us out, we were still hard to beat. I'm not saying we won't finish last in the group, we probably will, but if anybody comes to Mostar thinking they already have 3 points, they might get burnt. As a Zrinjski fan, it's privilege to be here and play against these respectable teams, and if we get few points, it's just a bonus.

[Greyn]

Information is not knowledge. This is a classic case for drowning in information, but starved for knowledge.

You have to take into consideration my limited English skills, I simply couldn't find a more proper word, but I understand what you mean.

[BorisMo]

Odds for 1st fixture games:

Legia W - Aston Villa 4.00 3.70 1.73
Zrinjski - AZ Alkmaar 3.70 3.60 1.80

[Dragonite]

Well, Dragonite, we have a saying in Poland "If a few people tell you that you are drunk, then you have to start believing them, that you are indeed drunk". It is a good thing and very important to have own opinion, but you constantly refuse to take arguments of other users into consideration. At least that is my impression, no offence intended.

I have a lot of respect to you for your almost unlimited knowledge about teams, players, statistics, etc. I think you can beat every forum member here in this regard. However, we have an another saying in Poland - "Only the cow doesn't change its mind". Please give it a thought, or ignore my post if you want.

That's not how it works.

Example: in UEFA Champions League twitter there's a poll asking "Who will top Group A?"

https://twitter.com/ChampionsLeague/sta ... 3461504072

You know who was the most voted team? Check it out!

Just because it was the most popular choice, I'm supposed to agree with it?



What's interesting about this forum is people with different points of view discussing them in a polite and intelligent way, not the pursuit of unanimity and harassing anyone who doesn't comply.

[Greyn]

Well, Dragonite, we have a saying in Poland "If a few people tell you that you are drunk, then you have to start believing them, that you are indeed drunk". It is a good thing and very important to have own opinion, but you constantly refuse to take arguments of other users into consideration. At least that is my impression, no offence intended.

I have a lot of respect to you for your almost unlimited knowledge about teams, players, statistics, etc. I think you can beat every forum member here in this regard. However, we have an another saying in Poland - "Only the cow doesn't change its mind". Please give it a thought, or ignore my post if you want.

That's not how it works.

Example: in UEFA Champions League twitter there's a poll asking "Who will top Group A?"

https://twitter.com/ChampionsLeague/sta ... 3461504072

You know who was the most voted team? Check it out!

Just because it was the most popular choice, I'm supposed to agree with it?

What's interesting about this forum is people with different points of view discussing them in a polite and intelligent way, not the pursuit of unanimity and harassing anyone who doesn't comply.

You are right, Dragonite.

After rethinking what I wrote in that post, I have to say that it was a mistake by me to write something like that. It was not an advice (I am too young to give any advice to any forum member), just a suggestion. Even if only a suggestion, it was a wrong suggestion.

Keep up with sharing your point of view, even if it is a 'controversial' one, as long as you have arguments to defend it.

[mieszambeton]

Most people think Zrinjski will get demolished by everyone in this group, but in last 15 years nobody managed to embarrass us, and we played against many stronger teams. To be fair, none of them were as strong as Aston Villa, but still. We played once against Dutch team, Utrecht, few years ago and knocked them out, also knocked out Olimpija. We also beat Malmo at home and Slovan twice, drew against Legia, Ludogorets, LASK, Slovan, Maribor, Sheriff..., even tho they all knocked us out, we were still hard to beat. I'm not saying we won't finish last in the group, we probably will, but if anybody comes to Mostar thinking they already have 3 points, they might get burnt. As a Zrinjski fan, it's privilege to be here and play against these respectable teams, and if we get few points, it's just a bonus.

I expect Legia to underestimate Zrinjski and lose there

[Greyn]

Most people think Zrinjski will get demolished by everyone in this group, but in last 15 years nobody managed to embarrass us, and we played against many stronger teams. To be fair, none of them were as strong as Aston Villa, but still. We played once against Dutch team, Utrecht, few years ago and knocked them out, also knocked out Olimpija. We also beat Malmo at home and Slovan twice, drew against Legia, Ludogorets, LASK, Slovan, Maribor, Sheriff..., even tho they all knocked us out, we were still hard to beat. I'm not saying we won't finish last in the group, we probably will, but if anybody comes to Mostar thinking they already have 3 points, they might get burnt. As a Zrinjski fan, it's privilege to be here and play against these respectable teams, and if we get few points, it's just a bonus.

I expect Legia to underestimate Zrinjski and lose there

I don't think that Legia under Kosta Runjaić would underestimate any opponent. I am sure he will prepare the team mentally for this match as it should be. The outcome of the match is a different thing, I won't be surprised with any outcome at the end. I expect a close and tough match for both Zrinjski and Legia.

[AnelZ]

Zrinjski released information about the ticket sale:

Package 3 home games - 50€ lower stand/40€ upper stand
Single tickets (if any are left after package sale) - 20€ lower stand/15€ upper stand.

The capacity of the stadium is around 6500 so the away fans are obliged to get at least 325 tickets. The rules also say the price for away fans can't be higher then the most expensive ticket price in free sale so the price for the away fans will probably be 20€.