Nottingham Forest welcome Portuguese giants Porto
Sean Dyche will take charge of his first game as Nottingham Forest head coach on Thursday night when the Tricky Trees welcome Portuguese giants Porto to the City Ground for matchday three of the Europa League.
While Porto are one of seven teams who boast a 100% record in the League Phase, Forest are still searching for their first European victory of the season.
Nottingham Forest are preparing for life under a third manager in what has been an eventful 2025-26 season and we are yet to enter the month of November, after controversial owner Evangelos Marinakis opted to sack both Nuno Espirito Santo and Ange Postecoglou within the space of six weeks.
Sitting in the relegation zone with just five points, Forest confirmed the appointment of Dyche on Tuesday on a contract until June 2027. The 54-year-old former Forest youth player, who has been out of work since being sacked by Everton in January, has added Forest fan favourites Ian Woan and Steve Stone to his coaching staff, and their immediate task is to stop the rot at the City Ground.
While Forest find themselves down in the dumps, Porto are in high spirits as they have made an impressive start to their campaign.
A quick fix against a high-flying goal-hungry Porto outfit is unlikely, so the hosts may have to wait a little while longer for their first Europa League win of the campaign.
Credit: sportsmole.co.uk
Viktoria Plzen travel away to face Roma
Returning to their latest Europa League campaign, Roma will welcome Viktoria Plzen to Stadio Olimpico on Thursday evening.
While the Italian side lost to Lille in extraordinary circumstances on matchday two, their Czech counterparts posted an emphatic first win.
Roma walked away empty-handed from their second straight game against French opponents.
Previously, the Serie A side had edged out Nice in southern France, so they have three points on the board thus far.
Since losing to Lille, Gian Piero Gasperini‘s men have beaten Fiorentina and lost to Inter Milan, either side of the international break – last week’s home defeat to Inter saw them slip to fifth place in the Serie A standings.
The 2024 Europa League winner will now aim to take maximum points on Thursday, which would see Roma set a new record by posting 99 wins in the competition.
By contrast, Plzen have won just two and lost more than half of their last 20 away matches in this competition, and that trend may continue today.
Credit: sportsmole.co.uk
Lyon to maintain top eight with win against Basel
Lyon can maintain their place in the top eight of the Europa League with a victory on Thursday against Basel at Groupama Stadium in the first meeting between the two sides.
A 2-0 win over Red Bull Salzburg has the French sitting fifth in the table with a perfect record after two matchdays, three points above Basel who defeated Stuttgart 2-0 the last time out.
The early success of Olympique Lyonnais both domestically and in Europe has stemmed from this team’s organisational structure, particularly on the back end.
They are one of three teams that have yet to concede in this phase of the tournament and Lyon are unbeaten in seven successive League Phase affairs.
Coming into this match Paulo Fonseca’s men are struggling just a little, having lost their last two domestic affairs by a single goal, suffering a 3-2 defeat at Nice over the weekend.
This upcoming fixture will only be the third time they face a club from Switzerland on the European stage.
Despite their minor slump there seems to be a solid foundation in place at Lyon and we trust their confidence at home will be restored against a Swiss side that have not faced a team as well organised as OL in a while.
Credit: sportsmole.co.uk
Crystal Palace, AEK Larnaca faceoff in Conference League
Two teams seeking to preserve their perfect start to the 2025-26 Conference League square off at Selhurst Park on Thursday night, as Crystal Palace play host to AEK Larnaca.
The Eagles secured a 2-0 victory against Dynamo Kiev in their opening League Phase fixture three weeks ago, while the Yellow-greens claimed a statement 4-0 home win over AZ Alkmaar.
After seeing their club-record 19-game unbeaten run across all competitions come to an end at the hands of Everton before the international break, losing 2-1 in the Premier League, Crystal Palace batted from behind twice to rescue a point in a thrilling 3-3 home draw with Bournemouth last weekend.
Fresh from netting his first international goal for France, Jean-Philippe Mateta scored a superb hat-trick – and should have scored a fourth deep into second-half stoppage time – to ensure that the Eagles remain unbeaten on home soil this season; not since February 15 have they suffered defeat at Selhurst Park (W8 D5).
Oliver Glasner’s long-term future at Palace might be uncertain, but the highly-rated head coach is determined to take his Eagles team to the next level this term and he is now focused fully on steering the club to victory in their first ever European home fixture on Thursday.
Crystal Palace should not take Larnaca lightly following the Cypriot club’s matchday one triumph, but the Eagles will still be considered as firm favourites to come out on top on Thursday, even if Glasner decides to rotate his team. A routine home win could be on the cards on a special night for the Selhurst Park faithful.
Credit: sportsmole.co.uk
FIXTURES
Go Ahead Eagles 16:45 Aston Villa
Olympique Lyonnais 16:45 Basel
Red Bull Salzburg 16:45 Ferencváros
Sporting Braga 16:45 Red Star Belgrade
Maccabi Tel Aviv 19:00 Midtjylland
Young Boys 19:00 Ludogorets Razgrad
League Stage
Shakhtar Donetsk 16:45 Legia Warszawa
Strasbourg 16:45 Jagiellonia Białystok
Crystal Palace 19:00 AEK Larnaca
Hamrun Spartans 19:00 Lausanne-Sport
Lincoln Red Imps 19:00 Lech Poznań
Sigma Olomouc 19:00 Raków Częstochowa
Universitatea Craiova 19:00 Noah
