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

[Dragonite]

[Dragonite]

AZ Alkmaar




Road to Conference League:
Conference League QR3: Santa Coloma
Conference League Playoff: Brann


Aston Villa




Road to Conference League:
Conference League Playoff: Hibernian


Legia




Road to Conference League:
Conference League QR2: Ordabasy
Conference League QR3: Austria Wien
Conference League Playoff: Midtjylland


Zrinjski




Road to Conference League:
CL QR1: Urartu
CL QR2: Slovan Bratislava
EL QR3: Breidablik
EL Playoff: LASK


Prediction:
1. AZ Alkmaar
2. Legia
3. Aston Villa
4. Zrinjski

[Lorric]

Aston Villa, the new West Ham.

Don't get this one, thought you had huge respect for Emery.

[bugylibicska]

Aston Villa, the new West Ham.

Don't get this one, thought you had huge respect for Emery.

West Ham started out as 4th, then after reached the semis 3rd. This year they should be promoted to 2nd after winning the competition. Aston Villa have a head start over West Ham.

[Dragonite]

Aston Villa, the new West Ham.

Don't get this one, thought you had huge respect for Emery.

You mean the new Tottenham?

Tottenham was the one that had a Conference League group with a Dutch opponent and another from ex-Yugoslavia and couldn't progress from it.


Anyway, Aston Villa doesn't have to be as bad as Tottenham or as good as West Ham, they can be something in-between too.


I have a huge respect for Emery. Last season again we could see how good he was. With him in charge Villarreal was 100% victorious, and since he left they couldn't win anymore.

[Lorric]

Aston Villa, the new West Ham.

Don't get this one, thought you had huge respect for Emery.

You mean the new Tottenham?

Tottenham was the one that had a Conference League group with a Dutch opponent and another from ex-Yugoslavia and couldn't progress from it.


Anyway, Aston Villa doesn't have to be as bad as Tottenham or as good as West Ham, they can be something in-between too.


I have a huge respect for Emery. Last season again we could see how good he was. With him in charge Villarreal was 100% victorious, and since he left they couldn't win anymore.

Villa would be worse than Tottenham if your prediction came true. Why do you think Emery is going to fail?

[Dragonite]

Villa would be worse than Tottenham if your prediction came true. Why do you think Emery is going to fail?

He doesn't have to fail. He can also leave during the season, like he did last season in Villarreal, and before that in Arsenal in 2019, and before that in Spartak Moscow in 2012...


Can't we consider that simply by reaching the group stages he already succeeded?

[Jua Ferreira]

Prediction

A. Villa
Legia
Az
Zrinjski

[Lorric]

Villa would be worse than Tottenham if your prediction came true. Why do you think Emery is going to fail?

He doesn't have to fail. He can also leave during the season, like he did last season in Villarreal, and before that in Arsenal in 2019, and before that in Spartak Moscow in 2012...


Can't we consider that simply by reaching the group stages he already succeeded?

Let's stop dancing around. Why exactly did you put Legia above Aston Villa? I'm not saying it can't happen, but why do you think it's likely to?

[Dragonite]

Let's stop dancing around. Why exactly did you put Legia above Aston Villa? I'm not saying it can't happen, but why do you think it's likely to?

They have better results over the last decade
+
Their road to the group stage was much harder (but that's not Aston Villa's fault, teams can't choose their opposition)
+

If you insist on grouping teams by nationality, then let's do it. Aston Villa is English, English teams have 50% success rate progressing from groups (Tottenham failed and West Ham succeeded)
AZ Alkmaar is Dutch, Dutch teams have 100% success rate (AZ themselves twice, plus Feyenoord once and Vitesse once)
Legia is Polish, and Polish teams have 100% success rate (Lech Poznan once)


So, you still want to keep grouping teams by nationality, or just because Tottenham failed and Lech Poznan succeeded it doesn't mean that the same things will happen to Aston Villa and Legia respectively just because they're from the same countries?


Oh, and I almost forgot the most important reason. Legia has two Portuguese players, Yuri Ribeiro and Josué, AZ Alkmaar also has two, Alexandre Penetra and Tiago Dantas, while Aston Villa doesn't have a single one. Unforgivable.

[bugylibicska]

To win the group:

1.Aston Villa 90%
2.Legia 5%
3.AZ 5%
4.Zrinjski 0%

To advance:

Aston Villa 99%%
Legia 50%
AZ 50%
Zrinjski 1%

[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.

[matt]

Prediction:
1. AZ Alkmaar
2. Legia
3. Aston Villa
4. Zrinjski

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

[Dragonite]

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).

[Lorric]

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