Thursday’s Late Kick-Off European Football Treble

Aris will travel to Glasgow to face Rangers on Thursday night.

Rangers currently find themselves in the top two of Group C, three points clear of Sparta Prague who sit in third. Rangers have not been too expressive going forward; however, they have scored in all but one of their games in this competition. Phillipe Clement will be impressed with his side’s defensive solidity, having conceded only three goals, keeping two clean sheets. A similar trend can be seen in the league, with Rangers only conceding seven in 13 games. Forward Abdallah Sima has impressed in Europe, netting twice.

Aris are doing reasonably well domestically; however, they have found it somewhat difficult when playing in the Europa League, only winning one of their four games. The visitors have scored five goals with forwards Shavy Warren Babicka and Aleksandr Kokorin, netting four between them. Despite their decent attacking output, they have struggled due to their poor defensive performances, conceding nine goals already.

Aris stunned Rangers when they clashed in Cyprus, winning 2-1. However, the scoreline definitely flattered Aris, as Rangers dominated the ball and performed better than the Cypriot club. Rangers will be seeking revenge on Thursday night.

Sheriff and Slavia Praha will go head-to-head in Moldova on Thursday night.

Sheriff have really struggled in the Europa League this season, only picking up one point from four games. The Moldovan side have struggled up top, only scoring three times to this point, one of
which was an own goal. Sheriff’s defensive record is not one to be proud of, with Roman Pilipchuk conceding an average of nearly three goals per game. In Sheriff’s last game, they travelled to Servette, losing 2-1. Two Sheriff defenders, Armel Zohouri and Gabi Kiki, were sent off in the game and will be absent for the clash with Slavia Prague, making matters even worse at the back.

Slavia Prague currently lead Group G, having won three of their four games. The visitors have excelled going forward, scoring ten goals. The goals have been shared by six players, two of which are forwards Vaclav Jurecka and Mojmir Chytil, who have scored a combined 11 goals in the league. The visitors have a very strong defensive record, having only conceded two goals, both of which came against their toughest opponents, Roma.

In their last Europa League outing, Slavia Prague impressed, beating Roma 2-0 at home. When the pair met in Prague, Sheriff were thrashed 6-0. The Moldovan side will be without two key defenders, and the visitors will be confident of capitalising on that, to take a step closer to qualification for the knockout stages.

Hacken will welcome Bundesliga leaders Bayer Leverkusen to the Bravida Arena on Thursday night.

Hacken are having a terrible time in this competition. The Swedish side have lost all of their four games, only scoring twice in the process. Manager Per Mathias Hogmo will be concerned by his side’s defensive record, as Hacken have conceded 13 goals already. Four of these came when they travelled to Leverkusen in September.

Leverkusen are flying both domestically and in Europe. Xabi Alonso’s side comfortably won their last outing, beating Bremen 3-0 away from home. In the Europa League, Leverkusen have picked up a maximum total of 12 points, scoring plenty of goals in the process. Striker Victor Okoh Boniface has been in fine scoring form, finding the net three times already. The likes of Florian Wirtz, Jeremie Frimpong and Alejandro Grimaldo have been influential going forward too. Leverkusen have performed well defensively, only conceding twice.

Leverkusen breezed past Hacken when the sides met earlier this year. Hacken only registered two attempts on goal, with Leverkusen having a greater share of possession. Alonso will expect his side to secure their place at the top of Group H, picking up all three points from this meeting.