This is a really tight tie. Maccabi Tel Aviv are slight favourites to qualify at 1.80 but Dynamo Kyiv are only at 1.95 which indicates that this could be a tie that goes all the way to penalties after the two legs have been contested.

With such a well matched tie for this final round of Europa League qualifying, it makes sense to look at BTTS as an angle for this matchup. Maccabi Tel Aviv have seen BTTS in four of their last five matches across all competitions - with this run including both of their legs against Hamrun Spartans in the last round of qualifying.

Dynamo Kyiv have seen BTTS in two of their last three matches across all competitions. Admittedly they aren’t as free flowing a side as Maccabi Tel Aviv but the tendency for the home side to concede would suggest that the Ukrainian outfit may be involved in one of their more livelier games. They’ve scored 10 goals across their three games in the Ukrainian Premier League so finding the back of the net shouldn’t be an issue for Dynamo Kyiv.

Utrecht are a side that are looking to break into the top three in the Eredivisie having finished fourth in the Dutch top flight last season, just four points behind Feyenoord. They have seen BTTS in all four of their qualifying legs so far in ties against Servette and FC Sheriff.

Utrecht saw plenty of goals on the road in the Eredivise last season, scoring 34 goals across their 17 away games (2.0 per game), but also conceding 21 goals across these fixtures (1.23 per game). Mostar will see the home leg as their main chance of staying in this tie seeing as they lost just 1 of their 17 home games in the Bosnian Premier League last season, scoring 48 goals across these games. This number is likely to fall slightly against a side with the quality of Utrecht, but the Dutch side have shown a tendency to allow the opposition to have chances which should encourage the home side in this first leg meeting. 

Mostar saw BTTS in both of their legs in the last round of qualifying against Breidablik with the first leg ending 1-1 before the Bosnian side claimed a 2-1 win on the road - they had nine shots on target across these games which confirms that they will carry an attacking threat against an open Utrecht side who can score for fun, but lack the defensive solidity to guarantee a clean sheet here.

I always like backing BTTS in games involving Besiktas mainly because I don’t think Ole Gunnar Solskjaer really has a defensive plan. The Turkish side have seen BTTS in four of their last five matches which is a run that includes conceding three goals against Shelbourne over two legs and six goals against Shakhtar over two legs. These worrying defensive numbers are made digestible by the fact that Besiktas have an incredible scoring power, over the four legs against Shakhtar and Shelbourne in qualifying, Besiktas scored nine goals - only failing to score in one of these legs (away v Shakhtar).

They take on a Lausanne side that hail from Switzerland and are looking to qualify for their first ever European competition. They have also seen BTTS in four of their five matches and will be encouraged by the goals that Besiktas have conceded in their qualifying run so far. Only Basel and Young Boys had a better home record than Lausanne in the Swiss Super League last season with the home side scoring 38 goals across their 20 league matches last season (1.9 per game), winning 11 of these games. They did also concede 25 goals across these games which is a margin that Besiktas should be able to stretch with their full throttle approach under the former Manchester United player and manager.

Lech Poznan have seen BTTS in each of their last four games, a run which includes their Champions League qualifying defeat to FK Crvena Zvezda over two legs. They have now dropped down into the Europa League qualifying race and face the awkward task of welcoming Genk who have seen BTTS in each of their last five matches across all competitions. 

Lech Poznan topped the Polish Ekstraklasa last season, winning 15 of their 17 home games in the process. They netted 46 goals across these games and only conceded 12, though this defensive record is unlikely to remain as strong here against a side with the scoring power of Genk. The travelling Belgian side scored 32 goals across their 20 away games in the Belgian First Division last season (1.6 per game), you would think that a record like this would give them a pretty strong away record but they only managed to win 10 of these fixtures, mainly because they conceded 29 goals across these games (1.45 per game). 

Everything points to this being an exciting first tie with Genk knowing that they have the ability to get a few crucial away goals which would put them in control of the tie seeing as they had the best home record in the Belgian First Division last season, winning 15 of their 20 matches. Lech Poznan will also be aware of this record and want to ensure that they give themselves the best chance of qualifying from this first leg which should spur both sides on to find the back of the net in this encounter.