The Europa League is back, and the group phase promises to provide bags of entertainment over the next few months. Let’s hope that our six chosen teams can start as they mean to carry on by finding the net in this 23/4 BTTS treble.
All three of our selected matches start at 8:05PM. With a little bit of luck, we’ll be celebrating a win long before 10PM. Here are our selections!
Guimaraes v Salzburg. 8:05PM
Austrian side Salzburg arguably aren’t the side they were before Red Bull pumped their money into Leipzig, but they still continue to goals for fun. There’s every chance that they will be involved in another thrilling encounter as they make the trip to Guimaraes here.
Marco Rose’s squad is blessed with attacking quality, with Munas Dabbur and Hee-Chan Hwang leading the way. Given that they have a very good chance of progressing from Group I, and opening night win on the road could be massive.
The Portuguese hosts haven’t scored that many goals this term, but will be eager to put in a strong performance at the Estadio Dom Afonso Henriques. A 1-0 weekend win over Boavista should provide Pedro Martins with some confidence about his team’s chances too.
They are more than capable of scoring against a defensively suspect Salzburg, but the visitors are likely to find the net too.
Red Star Belgrade v BATE Borisov. 8:05PM
In Arsenal’s group, Red Star Belgrade and BATE will both be desperate to begin their respective campaigns with a bang, and we think it could be a thrilling spectacle at the Marakana.
The Serbian hosts scored goals for fun throughout the qualifying process and have had a lot of job in their domestic league too. With Aleksandar Pesic looking particular dangerous for Vladan Milojevic’s men, the Red Star fans should have something to cheer.
BATE are a strong opponent, though, and the Belarusian’s have show their quality in the Champions League in recent seasons. They enter this match having scored in each of their last six matches while Mikhail Gordeychuk and co. will be confident about grabbing the three points.
We’re backing both teams to score in Belgrade.
Zulte Waregem v Nice. 8:05PM
Following a fantastic 4-0 victory over Monaco at the weekend, French side Nice make the trip to Belgium with huge confidence. However, they shouldn’t expect to have things all their own way against Zulte.
Lucien Favre’s side certainly boast firepower in the form of Mario Balotelli, Alassane Plea, and Wesley Sneijder. Given that the hosts have conceded five in their last two domestic games too, it seems likely that the visitors will score.
Zulte have scored eight in their last three, though, while Francky Dury can look to the likes of Aaron Leya and Peter Olayinka for inspiration in the final third. Nice are yet to register a clean sheet on the road this term too, which is another reason for the Belgians to be optimistic.
It’s a group K opener that could go either way. If it lives up to expectations, though, goals should be on the menu.