Both sides made winning starts to their Europa League campaigns, as Lyon beat Anderlecht 2-1 in Belgium, while Crystal Palace dismantled Lech Poznan 4-0 at Selhurst Park. Over 2.5 goals has landed in six out of eight matches for Palace this season, and their recent encounter against Nottingham Forest was particularly open. 

Lyon have also been an entertaining side to watch, especially when playing on home turf. Over 2.5 goals has landed in four out of their five matches, with BTTS in three of those. They came away with a 4-0 win over Rennes in their last outing at the Groupama Stadium, and a 3-1 victory over Auxerre before that.

Lyon are averaging 5.80 corners in their home games this season, clearing this line in four out of five overall. Paulo Fonseca sets his teams up to dominate possession, and they have been adept at generating chances in the final third. In fact, Lyon are averaging 17.4 shots per game, with 7.6 on target. 

Meanwhile, Palace just conceded 24 shots and eight big chances against Nottingham Forest. They were lucky to only concede once in the end, as the visitors managed 2.97 xG. Palace gave up eight corners in that match. The Eagles have allowed their opponents an average of 5.38 corners per game this campaign.

Ernest Nuamah is another player who has been adept at drawing contact, averaging 2.23 fouls drawn per 90. The Ghana international is always happy to receive the ball on the right wing, looking to drive at his marker. He often cuts inside onto his stronger left foot, which opens up shooting angles around the edge of the box. 

Nuamah bagged himself a brace against Rennes just before the break, which was his fourth goal of the season. He is averaging 2.97 shots per 90 across all competitions this campaign, and he has accrued ten shots in his last two home matches alone.

After Lois Openda suffered a fibula break against Lens last time out, Pavel Sulc looks set to be deployed further forward for Lyon. The Czechia international should deputise up front against Palace on Thursday night.

Sulc led the line for large parts of last season, when he had an average of 2.53 shots per 90. He showed impressive efficiency in front of goal, as 41% of his efforts hit the target, and he bagged 11 goals in the league. 

Sulc has recorded five shots from his four Ligue 1 starts this season, with three of those hitting the target. He also tested the goalkeeper against Lens last time out, despite Lyon suffering a 2-1 defeat.

Jefferson Lerma filled in at centre back at the weekend, and he looked really uncomfortable at times defensively. Chadi Riad remains out through injury, and Axel Disasi is serving a suspension.

However, the Frenchman is available to feature in Europe, and he should re-claim his starting spot on Thursday night. Disasi has committed a foul in three of his five appearances for Palace, including a straight red card against Ipswich after just 34 minutes. 

He will now have the tough task of trying to contain the Lyon attackers here. Corentin Tolisso usually plays in an advanced midfield role, and he is averaging 2.06 fouls drawn per 90.

Both sides made winning starts to their Europa League campaigns, as Lyon beat Anderlecht 2-1 in Belgium, while Crystal Palace dismantled Lech Poznan 4-0 at Selhurst Park. Over 2.5 goals has landed in six out of eight matches for Palace this season, and their recent encounter against Nottingham Forest was particularly open. 

Lyon have also been an entertaining side to watch, especially when playing on home turf. Over 2.5 goals has landed in four out of their five matches, with BTTS in three of those. They came away with a 4-0 win over Rennes in their last outing at the Groupama Stadium, and a 3-1 victory over Auxerre before that.

Sunderland come into this clash under pressure following their 2-0 defeat against Brighton, as they have lost each of their last three consecutive league matches. However, they did manage a positive start in their European campaign, beating AZ Alkmaar 1-0 before the break. It was a dominant performance from the Black Cats, who eventually found the decisive goal through Enzo Le Fee from the spot. 

Once again, there is a massive gulf in quality between these two sides, and Sunderland will hope to capitalise. Torreense qualified to the Europa League after winning the Portuguese Cup last season, but they are massive underdogs in the competition. In fact, they currently sit 15th in the Portuguese second division with the record of one win, three draws and three losses.

Both sides made winning starts to their Europa League campaigns, as Lyon beat Anderlecht 2-1 in Belgium, while Crystal Palace dismantled Lech Poznan 4-0 at Selhurst Park. Over 2.5 goals has landed in six out of eight matches for Palace this season, and their recent encounter against Nottingham Forest was particularly open. 

Lyon have also been an entertaining side to watch, especially when playing on home turf. Over 2.5 goals has landed in four out of their five matches, with BTTS in three of those. They came away with a 4-0 win over Rennes in their last outing at the Groupama Stadium, and a 3-1 victory over Auxerre before that.

Sunderland come into this clash under pressure following their 2-0 defeat against Brighton, as they have lost each of their last three consecutive league matches. However, they did manage a positive start in their European campaign, beating AZ Alkmaar 1-0 before the break. It was a dominant performance from the Black Cats, who eventually found the decisive goal through Enzo Le Fee from the spot. 

Once again, there is a massive gulf in quality between these two sides, and Sunderland will hope to capitalise. Torreense qualified to the Europa League after winning the Portuguese Cup last season, but they are massive underdogs in the competition. In fact, they currently sit 15th in the Portuguese second division with the record of one win, three draws and three losses.

Bournemouth have one of the worst disciplinary records in the Premier League so far after six matches. They have picked up 18 yellow cards - only Hull have been carded more. That includes four yellow cards against Chelsea last time out. Even in the Europa League, there were six cards shown in Bournemouth’s round one fixture against Real Sociedad, with three apiece. 

Sturm Graz haven’t been as aggressive, but they are still averaging 3.73 cards per game across all competitions this season, with 2.0 for, and 1.7 against. The Austrian side have been awarded at least two bookings in each of their last seven consecutive matches across all competitions.

Benfica are heavy favourites here, and I can’t see past them winning and scoring at least a couple of goals in the process.

Marco Silva’s men claimed arguably the most eye-catching result of matchday one in the Europa League, securing a 2-0 win away to AC Milan. 

They’ve also made a reasonably strong start to their Primeira Liga campaign, winning six of their opening eight matches and scoring multiple goals in each of those victories, including each of their last three at home.

It’s also worth pointing out that the Lisbon heavyweights hit Hearts for six during Europa League qualifying at the Estadio da Luz.

Celtic picked up a morale-boosting 2-0 win away to Motherwell at the weekend, but were humbled 3-1 at home by Ferencvaros in their Europa League opener. 

The Hoops also conceded four goals in 90 minutes away to LASK Linz during Champions League qualifying, which does not bode well ahead of Thursday’s trip to Portugal.