HJK v Maribor (Europa League)

HJK’s win in Slovenia was unexpected but completely deserved on the balance of play. A superb goal by David Browne opened the scoring after fine work by new loanee Lucas Lingman, before Bojan Radulovic sealed the win. They were more likely to score a third than concede, but if they resume this form, they’ll comfortably make the play-off against Silkeborg.

The return of Lingman was a surprise move but much needed – since moving to Sweden, he has made notable appearances for the Finnish national team and clearly stepped up a level. Bringing guile and a cutting edge to a feisty midfield has already proved evident. If HJK are to prevail in this tie, the guarantee of six group stages matches (in the Europa or Conference League) will give more showcase to his talents.

Radulovic hit the net again on Sunday in a 1-1 draw away to AC Oulu but some leaden-footed defending allowed an equaliser and squandered a big opportunity to go top of the table for the first time this season. Despite rotating the starting XI, the replacements looked off the pace against a dynamic opponent. Paulus Arajuuri is still missing and the prospect of renewing his Euro 2020 partnership with Joona Toivio is weeks away.

Knowing what’s at stake, with the likelihood of a healthy home crowd cheering them on; Klubi should be able to turn in a professional performance and seal the progress that will widen the financial gap between them and the rest of the league.

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FC Zurich v Linfield (Europa League)

FC Zurich will be looking to Linfield for another pick-me-up after another stuttering performance at the weekend as they look to defend their league title. Their 3-0 loss at home to Sion has heaped pressure on Franco Foda ahead of Thursday’s second leg with the Northern Irish minnows, and he’ll be keen to finish the job that was started in Belfast last week to clear the vultures for a few more days at least.

Nothing has come easy for the Swiss champions so far this season, and while they’ve been unable to score in domestic action, they have scored in all three of their European matches in this campaign. Two of the six goals they scored came at Linfield’s expense in the first leg of this UEFA Europa League QR3 qualifier last week. Tosin Aiyegun struck early at Windsor Park before Italian international Wilfried Gnonto added the second with just over twenty-five minutes to go.

Despite their recent troubles, this second leg should be a formality for ‘der Stadtclub’. They were dominant in the first leg and the quality gap is just far too stark for Linfield to really threaten them in the temporary surroundings of kybunpark in St. Gallen. I expect FCZ to have too much here, they can gain some confidence with a strong victory to advance into the play-off round against Scottish side Hearts.

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Hapoel Be’er Sheva v Lugano (Conference League)

Hapoel Be’er Sheva have yet to start their domestic league campaign in Israel, playing only in the UEFA Europa Conference League, but they have made light work of the opposition in the competition so far, winning both legs against Dinamo Minsk before easing to a 2-0 victory at the Cornaredo against Lugano last Thursday.

Lugano are probably wishing their season hadn’t even started given the lacklustre beginnings they have experienced in the Super League over the first few weeks. A solitary victory at newly-promoted Winterthur has been the only high point with the Ticino club losing the four other matches they played. FCL were put to the sword once again at home at the weekend, this time by FC Luzern in a 2-1 victory, their worst start since returning to Switzerland’s top flight in 2015. Be’er Sheva are the only side Lugano haven’t been able to score against and that is a real problem when you consider they have already shipped ten goals in five games.

The Israeli side are experienced at this level and I think they will finish the job against Lugano on home soil. The visitors are just too out-of-sorts and are leaking far too many goals to have any chance of turning this around. Be’er Sheva won 2-1 in their last meeting back in the 2017/18 UEFA Europa League, and I wouldn’t be surprised if that is repeated in this second leg in 2022.

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Djurgården v Sepsi (Conference League)

Djurgården came away from their last league game without a victory for the first time in ten matches. IFK Värnamo’s stubborn defence managed to keep the title contenders at bay in a match that finished 0-0, although the performance and underlying numbers suggested at least a goal was deserved.

Having played eight matches in five and a half weeks, some fatigue is expected, especially considering the managerial duo hasn’t rotated the squad too much despite plenty of strength in depth. A few players were rested on Sunday (such as goalkeeper Widell Zetterström, Hjalmar Ekdal and Joel Asoro) and are likely to return here – Djurgården won’t take anything for granted in this return leg despite a 3-1 advantage from the away game. A big target for the season is reaching the UECL group stages, and with only one more qualifying round after this, and a fairly kind draw, that’s within their grasp. There was a real gap in quality between the two sides in Romania and playing at home at Tele2 Arena in front of circa 20,000 fans, Djurgården will be extremely motivated to produce a victory.

Sepsi are unbeaten so far in the Romanian league but have to date played only four matches, producing two wins and as many draws. At the weekend they were impotent, playing out a goalless draw against a weak UTA Arad side positioned in 12^th, who also got decimated to ten men late in the game. The first leg of this tie showed Sepsi lack both some unpredictability and prowess in attacking areas, with Djurgården dominating in all phases of play and controlling the match well.

Despite some tired legs and a bit of rotation possible, Djurgården should be looking to impress and get back to winning ways here.

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Antwerp v Lillestrøm (Conference League)

The first leg resulted in a 3-1 victory for the Belgian outfit. It was a close match statistically and Lillestrøm actually outgunned their opponents slightly on xG 1.25 to 1.18. The difference was ultimately a bit of extra quality. Portuguese defender Dinis Almeida scored from a corner and then veteran Radja Nainggolan scored twice to put the Belgian outfit firmly in control. The ex-Roma man still has a lot of technical quality and is a very intelligent footballer. Lillestrøm struggled to cope with him in the second half. Royal Antwerp also have former Spurs defender Toby Alderweireld on their books. He missed the first leg due to a muscle problem but played in the weekend victory 4-2 vs Leuven. There is a chance he might be rested for this game as they work him back to full fitness. Young star Michel Balikwisha is definitely one to keep an eye out for and is considered a fine prospect. He didn’t score in the first leg but has been in excellent domestic form netting three goals in the first three games.

Lillestrøm have struggled to juggle domestic and European matches. They have dropped some points in the Eliteserien of late with a 1-1 draw vs Tromsø at the weekend being the most recent setback. The big story from that game was the dramatic late equaliser scored by goalkeeper Mads Christiansen, who had come up the field for a late free kick. He has been a key man for Lillestrøm as the last line of defence this season but now also came good for them in front of goal! LSK have been hit hard by the injury to striker Akor Adams who could be ruled out for up to 6-8 weeks with a shoulder problem. He has that extra bit of quality and flair upfront which they sometimes need. Lillestrøm do not have a bad replacement in Holmbert Fridjonsson but he doesn’t quite have the ‘X-factor’ that Adams has. The Norwegian outfit know they must win this match by at least a two goal margin to have any chance of progressing. They will be thankful that away goals don’t count anymore.

There looks to be some good value on taking over 2.5 goals for this game. The way the tie is set up Lillestrøm simply have to go down swinging and by taking a few risks. It could lead to a very open game, especially in the second half where the visitors could get desperate. Royal Antwerp could just try to hold onto their advantage, but I suspect they will want to put the match to bed and have the weapons to hit Lillestrøm both on the counter-attack and with set pieces. Odds of 1.87 just look too big for 2.5 goals here considering how this tie is set up.

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Rapid Vienna v Neftchi Baku (Conference League)

Rapid Vienna’s European hopes hang in the balance after surprisingly succumbing to a 2-1 away defeat to Neftchi Baku. Guido Burgstaller’s strike deep into injury time halved Rapid’s deficit after Atta Jaber and Kenny Saief had surprisingly put the Azeri side into a strong lead at the Bakcell Arena.

In terms of league form, Neftchi will be spurred on after an opening day victory in the Azerbaijan Premier League (1-0 away at Shamakhi FK) whilst Ferdinand Feldhofer’s Green and Whites drew with newly-promoted Austria Lustenau in the Austrian Bundesliga, however, are still undefeated and sitting pretty in second place.

Laurentiu Reghecampf’s Neftchi side have a full bill of fitness heading to Austria, with Rapid welcoming back Yusuf Demir, Roman Kerschbaum and leading man Ferdy Druijf after their absences in Baku, although Aleksa Pejic will miss out due to suspension after picking up a yellow in the first leg. With the return of Druijf after a lengthy absence, the Hütteldorfers head into the second leg in a better position and will be spurred on by a sizable home advantage.

The 1985 and 1996 Cup Winners’ Cup finalists have a proud European history and have reached the group stages in nine of their last 10 European campaigns. Not qualifying on Thursday would be a huge blow to Austria’s most successful club and a real dent to Ferdinand Feldhofer’s plans for the season. But with a five-figure crowd in Vienna cheering them on Rapid Vienna head into the contest as deserved heavy favourites to face either Vaduz or Konyaspor in the Europa Conference League Play-Off Round.

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Gil Vicente v Riga (Conference League)

The first week of the 2022/23 Primeira Liga season came to a conclusion on Monday in a battle between the two teams who finished fifth in each of the last two seasons. Both teams were missing key figures: after qualifying to European competition for the first time in the club’s 98-year history, Gil Vicente have lost manager Ricardo Soares to Egyptian giants Al-Ahly, Brazilian winger Samuel Lino to Spanish heavyweights Atlético Madrid (loaned out to Valencia), and diminutive midfield magician Pedrinho to MKE Ankaragücü, a newly promoted Turkish side. Paços, on the other hand, were without André Ferreira, who had emerged as one of the finest goalkeepers in the Primeira Liga last season and proved crucial in the Beavers finishing 11th despite scoring 29 goals – the second-lowest in the division – before joining Granada following the club’s relegation and becoming their third Portuguese goalkeeper in two years after Rui Silva and Luís Maximiano. 

Standing in Ferreira’s place between the sticks was 28-year-old Brazilian goalkeeper Jordi, who was playing his first match in 15 months after rupturing his Achilles tendon on July 9, 2021. Despite both teams having ample chances – 5 shots on goal each, with Paços having 12 shots and 53% possession to Gil’s 17 shots – the score was knotted up until the 85th minute, when Kanya Fujimoto launched a hopeful pass from deep, which Jordi duly came out to clear before missing contact completely and allowing Fran Navarro to recover possession in the box, and despite slipping, he was able to find Ali Alipour who controlled it onto his chest before firing it past Jordi, making for an emotional, last-gasp victory at home for a team that needed a result after last summer’s exodus. They’ll be make it two in a row as they host Riga in the second leg of their Europa Conference League qualifier. Riga took the lead within 17 minutes via Douglas Aurélio, but Juan Manuel Boselli would level things up at the hour-mark to snatch a 1-1 draw going back to Portugal, where they will play the first-ever European match in Barcelos.

Gil still look to be finding their feet going forward after losing two creative linchpins in Pedrinho and Lino, but they have nevertheless maintained the services of Fujimoto and last season’s top scorer in Fran Navarro whilst adding Boselli, Alipour and Kevin Villodres to their attack. Four of Gil’s five preseason matches would see over 2.5 goals scored, and after a cagey two matches that saw ample opportunities at either end but little goals, I’m backing this one to be heavy on goals in a Gil side that have far less European experience than their opponent, that have various new signings adapting to life in Barcelos, and that could be prone to some errors at the back. Four of Riga’s last five matches saw over 2.5 goals scored, the latest being a 3-2 victory at home on Sunday. I’m backing both sides to find the back of the net in what should be a thrilling second leg in Barcelos.

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Young Boys v KuPS (Conference League)

Young Boys were utterly dominant in their first leg victory in Finland last Thursday against KuPS. The current league leaders in the Credit Suisse Super League ran out 2-0 victors in a match that they created 15 attempts to the three of their opponents. Against a side that lead the Veikkausliiga in Finland, some suspected this tie could’ve been a banana skin for YB, but they eased to the win and should finish the job in the second leg

YB’s preparation for this return leg came in the shape of a goalless draw with Basel at St. Jakob-Park on Sunday. That fixture is always hotly-anticipated and while it lacked goals, it was highly competitive and entertaining. The visitors created several chances and could’ve won the game, so they should have little issue with doing the same against KuPS.

Given the level of control that the Bernese club enjoyed last week, you can expect more of the same in front of their own supporters at the Wankdorf. They weren’t at their clinical best against Basel, but they will create more against this kind of opposition, and I don’t expect them to struggle as much to put their chances away either. For those reasons, I expect there will be plenty of goals in Bern in this one.

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