Palace are not a particularly expansive team; they are happier without possession, often looking to hold their shape and pick their moments on the counter attack. There’s solid reasoning to think that Strasbourg will be competitive in possession and get plenty of attacking phases to create shooting opportunities.  Palace are playing the same XI almost every game, and accounting for the strenuous demands of football, this means they have to sacrifice the ball at times, offering their opponents some level of impetus. 

Strasbourg are averaging 14.11 shots per home game across Ligue 1 and the Conference League, with an average of 5.97 hitting the target. Truthfully, these are pretty solid shots on target averages, and over 1.5 goalkeeper saves definitely feel within reach. There’s a good chance that Strasbourg could also be chasing the game, and this would be conducive to an increasing number of Strasbourg shots in the latter parts of the match.

Such is the attacking template of Young Boys, they do have the ability to get up the pitch and put superior teams under pressure, there’s a lack of fear in their approach. Discounting games where they were awarded a red card in the Europa League, Young boys managed 19 shots against Panathinaikos, 16 against FCSB, and 15 against Ludogorets.

Christian Fassnacht is often a key component of these shooting numbers, he’s managed 6 shots in the Europa League so far, putting him at 2.38 shots per 90. These numbers improve domestically, where he’s recording 2.88 shots per 90 in the Swiss Super League. Fassnacht is in a strong vein of goalscoring form, after scoring a brace at the weekend, he also bagged in the game before the international break. There’s a good chance the winger will pull the trigger on Thursday if afforded the opportunity.

Look for Fran Navarro to hit the target at least once at Ibrox on Thursday night. The Braga forward currently sits joint-top of the goalscoring charts in this season’s Europa League, netting 3 goals in as many games. Now up against a Rangers side that sit bottom of the Europa League table - conceding 8 goals across their four matches - Navarro should have ample opportunity to add to his tally on Thursday night.

It’s also worth noting that Rangers have failed to keep a clean sheet in 5 of their six Scottish Premiership home matches this season, conceding multiple goals in 2 of their last four top-flight outings in front of their own supporters.

Therefore, the aforementioned Navarro will be rubbing his hands at the thought of coming up against Rangers' ropey defence on Thursday night.

The fact that the hosts have conceded an eye-watering average of 16.40 shots per game when on continental duty this season only strengthens the case for Navarro to hit the target during this contest.

Although there’s no escaping the fact that Aberdeen have struggled in Europe, their position is easily recoverable with a win here - only 2 points separate them from the top 24. A recent upturn in form has seen the Dons go unbeaten in their last 4 across all competitions - their longest run since the start of the season.

Noah’s trajectory seems to be leading them in the opposite direction; the visitors have recorded just 1 win across their most recent 7, against Ararat, who sit bottom of the Armenian Premier League with 3 points to their name after 14 matches.

Noah have particularly struggled when playing away from home, where that win versus Ararat remains their only victory of the season.

The data bodes well for this angle, in terms of the shots on target against Malmo in the Europa League this season, it reads as 4, 5, 7, 8, meaning they are conceding an average of six shots on target. These shots on target have translated to an average of four goalkeeper saves across their matches.

Forest are looking trigger-happy at present, managing 17 shots against Man Utd, 14 against Leeds, and 15 against Liverpool. In the latter two games against Leeds and Liverpool, they managed six shots on target in each. Forest should have a large territorial dominance in this game, and this will provide a good supply of shooting opportunities.

Malmö’s poor xGA data implies that teams are getting into favourable shooting positions against them, and this is conducive to more shots on target.