Sunderland vs AZ Alkmaar Preview

Sunderland host AZ Alkmaar at the Stadium of Light on Wednesday evening as both clubs open their Europa League campaigns from very different points of form.

Sunderland have won 2 of their last 5, drawing one and losing two, and go into this one on the back of a heavy defeat. Most recently, they lost 0-2 at home to Arsenal. Prior to that, they beat Hull 1-0 in the EFL Cup, drew 1-1 away at Brentford, beat Fulham 1-0 at home and their run started with a 2-1 loss to Ipswich.

AZ Alkmaar have won 4 of their last 5 and arrive as one of the form sides in the Eredivisie. Most recently, they drew 1-1 at home with Willem II. Before that, they won 3-2 away at Heerenveen, beat G.A. Eagles 5-2 at home, won 2-0 away at Sittard, and before that they beat Utrecht 4-1 away.

Surprisingly there is no head-to-head history between these two clubs.

Both sides sit level on zero points from zero games, with the Europa League phase yet to kick off for either club. Wednesday’s meeting will be the first result on the board for both. A win here would put either side top of the pile early, though with 36 teams still to play, it’s the shape of results over the coming weeks rather than this single table snapshot that will matter most.

In Great Britain, the match is live on TNT Sports 1 and TNT Sports Ultimate, with HBO Max also carrying it, and the same coverage extending to Ireland Republic. In the United States, viewers can catch the action on Paramount+ or DAZN USA. The game is also available in Canada via DAZN Canada and fuboTV Canada, and in the Netherlands on Ziggo Go and Ziggo Sport.

Possible Lineups

Sunderland (4-2-3-1)
Roefs, Mukiele, Danso, Ballard, Meunier, Xhaka, Sadiki, Le Fee, Angulo, Mandava, Brobbey

AZ Alkmaar (4-2-3-1)
De Busser, Dijkstra, Goes, Schouten, Chavez Garcia, Koopmeiners, Clasie, Stengs, Daal, Kwakman, Meerdink

Sunderland Form

Result	Home Team	Score	Away Team	Competition	Date
❌	Sunderland	0-2	Arsenal	PL	12.09.26
✅	Sunderland	1-0	Hull	EFL	08.09.26
🤝	Brentford	1-1	Sunderland	PL	05.09.26
✅	Sunderland	1-0	Fulham	PL	30.08.26
❌	Ipswich	2-1	Sunderland	PL	22.08.26

AZ Alkmaar Form

Result	Home Team	Score	Away Team	Competition	Date
🤝	AZ Alkmaar	1-1	Willem II	ERE	11.09.26
✅	Heerenveen	2-3	AZ Alkmaar	ERE	06.09.26
✅	AZ Alkmaar	5-2	G.A. Eagles	ERE	29.08.26
✅	Sittard	0-2	AZ Alkmaar	ERE	22.08.26
✅	Utrecht	1-4	AZ Alkmaar	ERE	15.08.26

TV Listings / Streaming

Country	Channel
Great Britain	TNT Sports 1 / TNT Sports Ultimate / HBO Max
Ireland Republic	TNT Sports 1 / HBO Max
USA	Paramount+ / DAZN USA
Canada	DAZN Canada / fuboTV Canada
Netherlands	Ziggo Go / Ziggo Sport
Spain	Movistar+ / Movistar Liga de Campeones 4
France	myCANAL / Canal+ Live 7
Portugal	DAZN3 Portugal / DAZN Portugal
New Zealand	DAZN New Zealand
Argentina	Disney+ Premium Argentina

Table

POS.	TEAM	MP	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	P
1	Sunderland	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2	Crystal Palace	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
3	AFC Bournemouth	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
4	Real Sociedad	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
5	Celta de Vigo	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
6	Salzburg	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
7	Sturm Graz	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
8	Viktoria Plzeň	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
9	Sparta Praha	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
10	Anderlecht	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
11	Union Saint-Gilloise	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
12	Olympique Marseille	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
13	Rennes	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
14	Olympique Lyonnais	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
15	Bayer Leverkusen	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
16	Hoffenheim	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
17	Juventus	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
18	Milan	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
19	NEC	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
20	AZ	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
21	Torreense	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
22	Levski Sofia	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
23	Dinamo Zagreb	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
24	Omonia Nicosia	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
25	OFI	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
26	Olympiakos Piraeus	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
27	Hapoel Be’er Sheva	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
28	Lillestrøm	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
29	Jagiellonia Białystok	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
30	Lech Poznań	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
31	Benfica	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
32	Celtic	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
33	Celje	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
34	Beşiktaş	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
35	Ferencváros	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
36	Ararat-Armenia	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0