The Europa League is back on Thursday and those who finished second in the group stage will be battling it out with eight teams who dropped out of the Champions League to face the group winners in the next round.
Getting off to a fast start in the first leg will be crucial and there are plenty of intriguing matches to take an interest in on Thursday, including what should be an entertaining game between Feyenoord and Roma in a repeat of the 2022 Europa Conference League final.
- Sporting to beat Young Boys
- Galatasaray to beat Sparta Prague
- Under 2.5 goals in Sporting Braga v Qarabag
- Over 2.5 goals in Feyenoord v Roma
Sporting Can Take Upper Hand
Sporting are fighting it out at the top of the Portuguese Primeira Liga and head to Young Boys having claimed a 5-0 win over Sporting Braga on Sunday.
The Lisbon outfit have won their last seven league games and scored 26 goals in their last five outings which is bad news for their Swiss hosts, who managed just four points from their six Champions League group games.
They are seven points clear in their domestic league but this could be a tough test against a team who are flying, so expect an away win.
Sparta May Be Rusty
Sparta Prague emerged from the Czech winter break with a 3-0 win at struggling Karvina on Saturday but a visit to Istanbul to face Galatasaray looks a completely different prospect.
Sparta lost two of their three group away games against Real Betis and Rangers, while Galatasaray earned a 3-2 win at Manchester United in the Champions League and have not lost in their 12 games since they fell to a 1-0 defeat in Copenhagen in their final group game.
Gala have won 11 of their last 12 at home - the exception was a 3-3 draw with United - and they should get their season’s Europa League involvement off to a winning start.
Qarabag To Keep Things Tight
Braga need to pick themselves up from the humbling they received against Sporting at the weekend and slamming the door shut on Qarabag when they head to Portugal will be the home side’s priority on Thursday.
The Azerbaijani league leaders tend to be involved in plenty of high-scoring games when they are in domestic action but they are likely to adopt a completely different persona when it comes to this Europa League battle.
There is less emphasis on them to attack and seven of their last ten matches in the competition have featured fewer than three goals.
That has also been the case in seven of Braga’s last eight home games, so expect that pattern to continue.
Final Repeat Should Be A Treat
Roma head to Feyenoord in a repeat of the 2022 Europa Conference League final, looking a lot more positive under manager Daniele De Rossi than they were under his predecessor Jose Mourinho.
Their opponents have not conceded in their last five matches but there have been at least three goals in each of the Wolves’ last five outings with both teams scoring in six of Roma’s last eight outings.
That run included a stirring 4-2 defeat against Serie A leaders Inter on Saturday, so we can expect more than two goals as the visitors are likely to go on the front foot in the Netherlands.
