What Dundee United can expect from AZ Alkmaar or Tuzla City - £6m spent, £9m exit, 31-goal duo, 47-goal trio

Dundee United will play either Dutch side AZ Alkmaar or Bosnian runners-up Tuzla City in the third qualifying round of the Conference League.

AZ will be strong favourites to progress due to their standing in the game and having spent more than £6million this summer.

So, what can United expect from the two sides?

Starting with AZ, the team technically finished runners-up as recently as the 2019/20 season when the season was abandoned due to the Covid-19 pandemic. No champions were declared but the team from Alkmaar in the province of North Holland were the country's second representatives in the Champions League having been six points ahead of Feyenoord after 25 games played. They were level on points with Ajax.

AZ, under the management of Louis van Gaal, won the Eredivisie in 2008/09 when Mounir El Hamdaoui finished top scorer ahead of Luis Suarez.

Last season, the team finished fifth. It meant they entered the European play-offs in the Dutch top-flight. They defeated Heerenveen 4-3 on aggregate to reach the final against Vitesse where 6-1 second-leg win saw them overturn a 2-1 first-leg loss.

Predominantly set up in a 4-2-3-1 shape under manager Pascal Jansen, they are a team which can score goals. Only the top three – Ajax, PSV and Feyenoord – scored more with Vangelis Pavlidis and Jesper Karlsson scoring 31 between them in the league. The team are possession-based – only Ajax recorded more passes – and were fifth for most shots and second for most crosses in the league last season.

They have lost left-back and captain Owen Wijndal to Ajax. The 22-year-old Dutch international was bought for £9million. Money has been reinvested in the squad. The marquee recruit so far has been Jens Odgaard. The versatile Danish forward