Thursday’s 4/1 Early Kick-Off European Football Treble

Maccabi Haifa and Rennes will clash at a neutral venue in Hungary on Thursday evening.

Maccabi Haifa are struggling in this competition, having only picked up one point from three games. They have been much better when playing at neutral venues than they have when visiting the other sides, drawing 0-0 with Panathinaikos and only losing by one goal against tough opponents, Villarreal.

The hosts have struggled going forward, only scoring once in their three games. The goal came from an unusual source in defender Abdoulaye Seck, highlighting their lack of a prolific goal source. Maccabi Haifa have also conceded five, with three of those coming against Rennes.

Rennes have had an average start domestically, currently in tenth place in Ligue 1. They currently lead Group F, having won three of their four games. They have scored an average of two goals per game, with attacking talents Ludovic Blas and Amine Gouiri scoring three times between them. Rennes have been solid defensively, only conceding three goals to this point.

When the pair met in Rennes, the French side breezed past Maccabi Haifa, winning 3-0. Rennes dominated possession and had four times as many shots as their opponents. They’ll be disappointed with anything other than three points from this game.

Sturm Graz will welcome Rakow to Austria on Thursday evening.

Sturm are doing well to keep up with RB Salzburg in the Austrian Bundesliga, having picked up 33 points from a possible 45. Things have not been as straight forward in the Europa League; however, they are still within three points of second-placed Sporting. Striker Szymon Wlodarczyk is his side’s top scorer in the league and provides the biggest threat going forward. The Polish striker grabbed a late equaliser in their 2-2 draw with Atalanta last month. Sturm have shown some strength at the back, only conceding five goals in four games.

Rakow have only picked up one point from their opening four games. What is concerning for the visitors is that their only point came against a Sporting side that played with ten men for almost all of the game. Rakow have really struggled going forward, only scoring twice thus far. Polish attacker Bartosz Nowak, Rakow’s top scorer domestically, has struggled to find form in the Europa League, failing to score in his three appearances.

Sturm dominated the last encounter in Poland, having over twice as many attempts as their opponents. Sturm will be hopeful of piling pressure on Sporting and Atalanta and will expect to win this encounter.

Brighton will travel to Athens to face AEK on Thursday evening.

AEK will be pleased with their start to domestic life this season, currently one point behind leaders Panathinaikos. The hosts have lost only one of their opening 12 games. Goals have been plentiful across AEK’s matches, with the hosts scoring 22 goals in the league thus far. The same goes in the Europa League, in which AEK’s first four games have seen an average of more than three goals per game. Manager Matias Almeyda will be concerned with his side’s defensive record, with his side conceding an average of two goals per game.

Brighton are trying their upmost to balance both the Premier League and the Europa League. This has not impacted the intensity of Brighton’s games in the league, with the Seagulls’ games seeing an average of almost four goals per game to this point. Brighton have one of the highest attacking outputs in the league, scoring 28  goals already. In this competition, the visitors average two goals scored per game. Joao Pedro is Brighton’s top scorer with four goals. Brighton have struggled to keep things tight defensively at times, conceding an average of over one goal per game.

When AEK visited Brighton in September, AEK came out on top in a five-goal thriller, winning 3-2. More of the same should be in store in the Greek capital.