Young Boys are a very chaotic side, they typically play a progressive brand of football and often look to be very positive in their approach, regardless of the opposition. The visitors were the whipping boys in the Champions League last season, they finished in 36th place and conceded 24 goals across eight games.

There’s already a similar trend of Young Boys conceding lots of goals this season, they’ve conceded 1.64 goals a game in the Swiss Super League. This is a pretty big number considering the drop off in quality at this level. The visitors have also conceded 4 goals against both Panathinaikos and PAOK in the Europa League this season. When they play against better quality teams, they don’t have much of a handbrake.

While Villa certainly haven’t been prolific this season, they’ve got heaps of depth in attacking areas. If Villa can feed the ball between the lines then they’ve got numerous weapons to hurt the opposition in transition. The 4-0 home win against Bournemouth was a sign they’re starting to click into gear offensively.

One player in excellent form recently is Donyell Malen. After getting 45 minutes from the bench at the weekend and returning with an assist, there’s a good chance Malen will be primed to start here, especially given rotation in attacking areas. Malen has often been playing as a striker when starting ahead of Watkins, but can also be deployed on the left, right, and number ten.

Malen is experiencing a purple patch at present, having scored three goals and assisted once over his last five games for club and country. The attacking player has scored three goals and assisted once for Villa in the Premier League this season, carrying an xG per 90 of 0.48.

Malen has scored one goal in 190 minutes of Europa League football this campaign, but with a hefty xG per 90 of 0.78. Admittedly Malen’s creation stats haven’t been particularly good this season, but he’s still a creative minded player, having picked up over 30 assists during the course of his club career, including at the weekend.

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.

While Young Boys are not a side that accumulates a huge amount of corners, it’s a more intuitive play given their attacking outlook and approach to football matches. Despite suffering awful results in the Champions League last season, they were still able to muster a few corners against very high-quality opposition. Young Boys managed three against Barcelona, five against Inter Milan, and seven against Atalanta. They’re certainly capable of building through the thirds, rather than being pegged back completely for ninety minutes.

The game state should be favourable here, Villa will likely be leading in the match, and this should encourage Young Boys to push bodies forward as they try to chase the game. Aston Villa have conceded an average of 4.88 corners in the matches where they’ve won this season. Ultimately, there’s a very good chance Villa will win the game, but 3+ Young Boys corners is a great price not to include.

I think an entertaining encounter could be on the cards in Rotterdam on Thursday evening, making both teams to score an attractive option. Feyenoord are without a clean sheet in four attempts in this season’s Europa League, with both teams hitting the back of the net in their previous home game with Panathinaikos.

It’s also worth noting that there have been goals at both ends in five of Feyenoord's previous six matches in the Eredivisie, a sample that includes each of their last four games at their Rotterdam home.

Therefore, I think Celtic are more than capable of landing a blow on Feyenoord’s backline on Thursday evening. The Bhoys have made the net bulge at least once in each of their five matches under Martin O’Neill’s watch, including their defeat away at Midtjylland earlier this month. What’s more, both teams have struck in three of Celtic’s four Europa League matches this season, including each of their two assignments away from Glasgow.

Look for Feyenoord’s clash with Celtic on Thursday evening to feature 10 or more corners. Given the current state of play in the league phase table, a draw doesn't really suit either side here, so there should be plenty of final third action, and that should be conducive to plenty of corners. 

Moreover, each of these two teams are leading the way in their respective domestic divisions when it comes to total team corners this term, with the pair both averaging in the region of 7.5 per game. 

What’s more, Celtic’s Europa League matches this season have been particularly corner-heavy, with three of the Hoops’ opening four assignments generating 11 or more flag kicks. On top of that, Celtic’s Scottish Premiership matches this season are producing an average in excess of 11 corners per 90.

While Feyenoord have not been as reliable on the match corners front in this season’s Europa League, Robin van Persie’s side did manage to rack up eight flag kicks when losing at home to Aston Villa last month. 

While Daizen Maeda has struggled to hit the heights of last season, he remains Celtic’s main goal threat, and I think he looks well placed to hit the target at least once on Thursday night. Under Martin O’Neill’s management, Maeda has looked much more like his old self, with his tireless work rate and sharp movement back on show in recent weeks.

What’s more, the Japan international made the net bulge against Kilmarnock the weekend before last, and I think he will pose a threat to an injury-ravaged Feyenoord side that have been leaking goals at an alarming rate in recent weeks. 

The Dutch hosts have failed to silence their opponents in each of their last six matches across all competitions, shipping multiple strikes in four of those contests, including each of their previous three. 

With that in mind, Maeda looks like an obvious candidate to exploit the hosts’ defensive vulnerability, making the Celtic ace worthy of support to deliver at least one on-target effort on Thursday evening.

Callum McGregor is another player who looks to have benefited from Martin O’Neill’s return to Celtic.

The Celtic captain scored a crucial goal against Rangers during a Scottish League Cup semi-final tie at Hampden earlier this month, and he produced a moment of magic in the dying embers of the game to see off St Mirren on Saturday. It's also worth mentioning that McGregor got himself on the scoresheet away at Hearts last month, so it is fair to say that he is currently enjoying something of a purple patch in front of goal right now.

What’s more, the Celtic stalwart has been averaging 1.70 shots per game in this season's Scottish Premiership, registering a minimum of one effort in six of his last seven appearances. Drill deeper, and you will see that McGregor has had multiple shots in five of those seven matches, making him an appealing proposition to deliver a minimum of one shot against Feyenoord on Thursday evening.