Following comfortable triumphs in the Europa League play-off semi-finals, AZ Alkmaar and Utrecht will now be vying for the final European berth.

The first leg takes place at AFAS Stadion, the place where Utrecht recorded a 3-2 victory on the final day of regular season.

Few years ago, AZ Alkmaar were up there with the best of them in Dutch Eredivisie, constantly challenging for major trophies, winning the second top flight title in 2009.

AZ also managed to lift the KNVB Beker in 2013 and reached the UEFA Cup quarter-finals on three occasions, but the club have been on a downtrend of late.

They finished the regular season in sixth place with mere 49 points from 34 fixtures, but then managed to impress in the play-offs.

Despite losing three straight games beforehand, AZ Alkmaar recorded two 4-1 wins over Groningen to set up a clash with Utrecht, where they are 19/20 to win the first leg.

Head coach John van den Brom will have fully fit squad to select from and he is unlikely to make any changes to the side that hammered Groningen.

Probable starting line-up (4-3-3): Krul – Svensson, Vlaar, Luckassen, Haps – van Overeem, Seuntjens, Wuytens – Stengs, Weghorst, dos Santos.

Utrecht haven’t quite managed to challenge for the Eredivisie trophy like their next opponents, but there haven been in and around European positions year after year.

Erik ten Hag’s side finished the regular season in fourth position, winning seven of last eight fixtures and also seeing off AZ Alkmaar on the road.

Utrecht have since recorded 3-1 and 2-1 wins over Heerenveen to book a ticket for the Europa League play-off final, and they are now set for two difficult games against AZ Alkmaar.

With players like Haller, Zivkovic, Labyad and Barazite vying for positions up front, it is hardly surprising that Stadion Galgenwaard outfit have been bagging goals for fun, while they back line have suffered a bit.

Utrecht did, however, manage to keep three clean sheets in last seven games and if they do not concede on Thursday, they will stand a good chance of securing Europa League qualification.

Patrick Joosten and Rico Strieder both miss out through a knee problem, whilst Kevin Conboy faces a fitness test.

Probable starting line-up (4-3-1-2): Jensen – Klaiber, Leeuwin, Janssen, Hardeveld – Amrabat, Brama, Ayoub – Labyad – Zivkovic, Haller.