Basel welcome a high-flying Aston Villa
Basel will endeavour to protect their formidable Europa League home record when they welcome a high-flying Aston Villa outfit to St Jakob-Park on Thursday night.
The two teams meet for the first time since August 2001 when John Gregory’s Villa secured a 4-1 aggregate victory in the final of the Intertoto Cup.
Unai Emery has overseen a magnificent run of form in the West Midlands over the past couple of months, guiding his Aston Villa side to 13 victories in their last 15 games across all competitions (L2), scoring two or more goals in 10 of those matches.
Their latest triumph was on home turf against Premier League leaders Arsenal last weekend, with substitute Emiliano Buendia scoring a dramatic 95th-minute equaliser with the last kick of the game to seal a 2-1 victory, extending their winning streak to seven matches.
Aston Villa’s early-season wobble is now a distant memory and Emery’s men can now be considered as Premier League title contenders, as they sit third in the table and just three points behind the Gunners at the summit after 15 games, with a favourable trip to West Ham United up next on Sunday.
Villa must first shift their attention back to the Europa League and will be looking to build on their solid start in the League Phase. After five matches, they have accumulated 12 points (W4 L1) and sit joint top of the 36-team standings with Lyon and FC Midtjylland. Victory on Thursday would strengthen their hopes of securing at least a top-eight finish and automatic qualification for the last 16.
Aston Villa will be wary of Basel’s strong European home form, but the visitors will still be regarded as favourites for Thursday’s contest and should have enough quality in their side, even if Emery makes changes to his lineup, to come away from Switzerland with maximum points.
Credit: sportsmole.co.uk
Celtic and Roma go toe-to-toe in Glasgow
Both looking to boost their hopes of reaching the Europa League’s knockout stage, Celtic and Roma will go toe-to-toe in Glasgow on Thursday evening.
Now under new management, the Scottish champions trail their Italian counterparts by two points in the table, with neither sure to finish inside the top 24.
Moving out of the elimination places and into a playoff spot, Celtic secured three crucial points from their last Europa League outing, impressively beating Feyenoord 3-1 at De Kuip.
Despite falling behind early on, strikes from Hyun-Jun Yang, Reo Hatate and Benjamin Nygren made Martin O’Neill’s final European game as interim manager truly memorable.
Upon the 73-year-old’s recent departure, the Bhoys had won five straight Scottish Premiership matches – scoring 12 goals and conceding just one – which trimmed Hearts’ big lead at the top of the table.
Having also steered Celtic past old foes Rangers and into the League Cup final, O’Neill was replaced by Wilfried Nancy, who has made a big impact on MLS over the past few seasons.
However, the Frenchman lost his first match in charge, going down 2-1 at home to title rivals Hearts last weekend, and he has little time to implement a planned tactical overhaul.
A big week lies ahead, as Sunday’s cup final clash with St Mirren will follow a midweek visit from one of Serie A’s top sides.
Set to meet Roma for the first time, Celtic have won just two of their last 16 games against Italian opposition. Roma have more recently enjoyed victory over Celtic’s biggest enemies, having beaten Rangers 2-0 at Ibrox just a few weeks ago.
Credit: sportsmole.co.uk
Nottingham Forest travel to the Netherlands to face Utrecht
Nottingham Forest will be looking to boost their Europa League last-16 qualification hopes when they travel to the Netherlands to face FC Utrecht at Stadion Galgenwaard on Thursday night.
Both teams are aiming to bounce back from domestic setbacks at the weekend, with Forest losing at Everton in the Premier League and Utrecht sharing the spoils with FC Twente in the Eredivisie.
After enjoying a three-match winning run in November, scoring exactly three goals in victories over Leeds United, Liverpool and Malmo, Nottingham Forest have since suffered two defeats in their last three fixtures in the Premier League (W1). Three days after edging past basement club Dyche is seeking a swift response from his players who “were nowhere near it on the physical side” against Everton, but success away from home is not a given on Thursday, as they have only won two of their 11 matches on the road across all competitions this season (D4 L5), including two draws in the Europa League with Real Betis (2-2) and Sturm Graz (0-0).
Competing in European competition for the first time in 30 years, Forest have collected eight points from their first five League Phase fixtures (W2 D2 L1) and sit 16th in the 36-team standings, two points behind the top seven and four points behind top spot with games against Utrecht, Braga and Ferencvaros remaining.
Forest, who are the only team yet to concede in the Europa League since Dyche’s arrival at the end of October (W2 D1), have won three of their previous four European meetings with Dutch opposition (L1) and are looking to win their first game in the Netherlands.
Credit: sportsmole.co.uk
Dinamo Zagreb, Real Betis faceoff at the Maksimir Stadium
Spanish side Real Betis will travel to Croatia for the Europa League clash with Dinamo Zagreb at the Maksimir Stadium.
Los Verdiblancos are sitting in fifth spot in the league phase, while Dinamo are down in 23rd place in the standings.
Dinamo are operating just inside the top 24 after winning two, drawing one and losing two of their five league phase matches.
The Croatian side started the main draw with wins against Fenerbahce and Maccabi Tel Aviv, before playing out a 1-1 draw in their away meeting with Malmo on matchday three.
However, they have since experienced a disappointing drop off, having lost their last two Europa League games against Celta Vigo and Lille by a combined 7-0 scoreline.
Dinamo will now turn their focus back to their bid to reach a European knockout stage for the second time in three seasons, with the Croatian side holding a narrow one-point advantage over 25th place ahead of their final two league phase fixtures against Betis and FCSB.
Thursday’s hosts have won five of their previous seven competitive home games, although their only defeat in that period took place against Spanish opposition with November’s 3-0 loss to Celta.
Betis currently occupy a top-eight spot after winning three and drawing two of their five league phase matches.
Credit: sportsmole.co.uk
Fixtures
Sturm Graz 17:45 Red Star Belgrade
Stuttgart 17:45 Maccabi Tel Aviv
Utrecht 17:45 Nottingham Forest
Freiburg 20:00 Red Bull Salzburg
Olympique Lyonnais versus Go Ahead Eagles
