Roma and Lille lock horns in Europa League
Two contenders for a top-eight finish will meet at Stadio Olimpico on Thursday, as Roma and Lille lock horns in the Europa League.
Both sides are intent on going straight through to the last 16, so they will be keen to keep up the pace after starting with a win on the opening matchday.
Lille matched Roma’s fifth-placed domestic finish last season, in addition to making quite a mark on the Champions League.
Lille memorably defeated both Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid in the league phase of UEFA’s top competition, so they started big favourites in this year’s Europa League opener.
Now into his 40th year, Lille’s veteran striker Giroud has registered 17 Europa League goals to date, finishing as the tournament’s top scorer when Chelsea claimed the trophy in 2019.
While they have fired blanks in their last two league matches, Lille can be dangerous after the break, having scored 11 of 15 goals this season during the second half.
Yet, Roma have lost just two Europa League home games to date, while they are proving particularly tough to score against under Gasperini – so the hosts will still prevail.
Credit: sportsmole.co.uk
Aston Villa travel away to face Feyenoord
Aston Villa will be looking to make it two wins out of two in the League Phase of the Europa League when they travel to the Netherlands to face Feyenoord at Stadion Feijenoord on Thursday night.
While Unai Emery’s side picked up all three points against Bologna on matchday one, Robin van Persie’s men suffered a narrow defeat to Braga in their opening League Phase fixture.
After failing to win any of their opening six matches across all competitions (D3 L3) at the start of the 2025-26 season, Aston Villa have since secured back-to-back home victories in a three-day period against Bologna and Fulham.
Aston Villa will fancy their chances of success against Feyenoord, as they are unbeaten across their last five European games against teams from the Netherlands (W4 D1).
Emery will be keen to see his Aston Villa side build on their recent success and consolidate their position towards the top of the League Phase standings, but Feyenoord are certainly no pushovers and they have the potential to frustrate their Premier League counterparts on home soil. With that in mind, both teams may be forced to share the spoils on this occasion.
Credit: sportsmole.co.uk
Dynamo Kiev host Palace in Conference League
Lublin Arena in Poland is the venue for Crystal Palace‘s first ever major European fixture against Dynamo Kiev in the Conference League on Thursday evening.
The Eagles soared to a last-gasp triumph over Premier League champions Liverpool last weekend, while the White-Blues have played out back-to-back draws in their last two Ukrainian top-flight games.
Crystal Palace were left disappointed in August by UEFA’s decision to demote the club from the Europa League to the Conference League for breaching multi-club ownership rules, but the Eagles have moved swiftly on and are now in high spirits having put together an impressive unbeaten run.
Indeed, no team across Europe’s top-five leagues are currently enjoying a longer undefeated streak than Palace, who have not lost any of their last 18 Premier League matches (W8 D10) – their joint-longest unbeaten run as a Football League club.
Crystal Palace beat Fredrikstad 1-0 on aggregate in the playoff round to qualify for the Conference League and they will relish the opportunity to test their mettle against a Dynamo Kiev outfit who have won three European trophies in their history: two UEFA Cup Winners’ Cups (1975 and 1986) and one UEFA Super Cup (1975).
In-form Crystal Palace will be regarded as slight favourites as we have faith in the Premier League side’s quality to shine through as Glasner’s men celebrate their first European win.
Credit: sportsmole.co.uk
Forest in Europa League encounter with Midtjylland
Still searching for his first victory as Nottingham Forest head coach, Ange Postecoglou prepares his team for a Europa League encounter with FC Midtjylland at the City Ground tonight.
While Forest were forced to share the spoils with Real Betis in their opening League Phase fixture last week, their Danish counterparts secured all three points against Sturm Graz on matchday one.
The decision made by Nottingham Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis to part ways with Nuno Espirito Santo and replace him with Ange Postecoglou is yet to yield positive results, as they have failed to win any of their opening five matches across all competitions with their new head coach at the helm (D2 L3), conceding 10 goals in the process.
Forest are now preparing for their first European meeting with Danish opposition and their first home game in a major European competition.
Most teams would welcome a return to home soil, but Nottingham Forest have not experienced a lot of success in recent matches at the City Ground, as they head into Thursday’s contest having lost five of their last seven home games without scoring (W1 D1).
FC Midtjylland had not won the opening fixture in any of their previous four European campaigns (D2 L2) before securing a 2-0 home victory over Sturm Graz a fortnight ago.
Midtjylland have already won three European away matches in Europa League qualifying this season and they will back themselves to pull off an upset against a Forest side who are not firing on all cylinders under Postecoglou.
Credit: sportsmole.co.uk
Ludogorets Razgrad 16:45 Real Betis
Panathinaikos 16:45 Go Ahead Eagles
Maccabi Tel Aviv 19:00 Dinamo Zagreb
Nottingham Forest 19:00 Midtjylland
Olympique Lyonnais 19:00 Red Bull Salzburg
Conference League Fixtures
Dynamo Kyiv 16:45 Crystal Palace
Jagiellonia Białystok 16:45 Hamrun Spartans
Lausanne-Sport 16:45 Breidablik
Lech Poznań 16:45 Rapid Vienna
Rayo Vallecano 16:45 Shkendija
Zrinjski 16:45 Lincoln Red Imps
Aberdeen 19:00 Shakhtar Donetsk
Fiorentina 19:00 Sigma Olomouc
Legia Warszawa 19:00 Samsunspor
Raków Częstochowa 19:00 Universitatea Craiova
