(Football news) With the Champions League matches done all the focus will shift to the Europa League as teams look to qualify for the round of 32. This year, the change of format also means that coming third in the group would mean European football, the third place team will go straight into the Uefa Conference League round of 32. This means that Europa League is even more competitive than last year.
West Ham take on Austrian side Rapid Wien in the London Stadium, David Moyes’ side will be high on confidence as they won a dramatic match against Leeds last weekend and hopefully will be capitalizing on the good form that they are in. Moyes might make plenty of changes to his playing XI in a bid to keep the regular starters fresh, this could mean opportunities for players like Lanzini, Yarmolenko and Areola to make an impression on the pitch.
Leicester City take on Polish side Legia Warsaw at the Stadion Wojska Polskiego. Brendan Rodgers’ side are in desperate need of a victory as this season they haven’t been at their affluent best, a win might just kick start their campaign off. This won’t be an easy matchup as Leicester will be without the likes of Ndidi who picked up a red card against Napoli and is suspended, Iheanacho also misses out due to a passport issue and also Johnny Evans misses out due a small niggle. Leicester fans will hope that new signings Paston Daka and Soumare will get some much needed game time as they are still settling into the squad.
AS Monaco take on Real Sociedad in a mouth watering fixture as both teams are equally matched. Based on current form, Real Sociedad domestically has taken 16 points from a possible 18 points but on the other hand Monaco are 8th in the French League, they too have won their last two matches and will be high on confidence. Nico Kovac will be without Cesc Fabregas due to a muscle injury as Monaco fans will hope that both their strikers Ben Yeddar and Kevin Volland score some crucial goals. Whereas Alexander Isak and Oyarzabal will be the players to watch out for Real Socided.
Celtic take on in-form Bayer Leverkusen as Celtic would be hoping to bounce back from their disappointing loss to Real Betis in their opening fixture earlier this month. The Scottish side haven’t really been in good form heading into the game as they are already six points behind their Scottish rivals Rangers in the Scottish Premiership. Celtic will have an uphill task against the high scoring Leverkusen, 17 year old Florian Wirtz has been scoring for fun this season as he has scored 5 goals in 6 appearances. Leverkusen will be without the likes of Fosu Mensah, Tapsoba and Baumgartlinger for the fixture.
Napoli face Spartak Moscow in the Diego Maradona stadium, Spalletti’s side are the team in form and one of the favourites now to go all the way and win the trophy. Napoli are currently on top of the Serie A table with a 100% start to their season, in their first match against Leicester it looked like they were heading for their first defeat this season but an inspired performance from Victor Osimhen meant that they settled for a point. Napoli will be without Lobotka, Dries Mertens and Ghoulam for the match as Osimhen and Insigne again will be the key personalities going forward.
Other fixtures to keep an on are:
- Antwerp vs Eintracht Frankfurt
- Sparta Prague vs Rangers
- Marseille vs Lokomotiv Moscow
- Ferencvaros vs Real Betis
- Fenerbahce vs Olympiacos
- Lyon vs Brondby
