UEFA Europa League: Napoli face tough away fixture to Spartak Moscow and Leicester need to win against Legia Warsaw to qualify

(Football news) Napoli travel to Moscow to face Spartak in a crucial encounter to qualify for the knockout stages. The Italian outfit lost a crucial league clash with Inter Milan on Sunday but back-to-back wins in the continental competitions see them currently top of the group. For Spartak, they have several players such as Ezequiel Ponce, Jorrit Hendrix, Roman Zobnin and George Melkadze injured and ruled out. Despite his ongoing issues off the field, Quincy Promes featured in their most recent league outing and he remains a key player in the attacking line. For Napoli the injury list is long as well, Victor Osihmen underwent a successful operation for his broken cheekbone as he is set to out for 3 months, along with that Zambo Anguissa, Kostas Manolas, Matteo Politano and Diego Demme are set to miss out with injury. Spalletti’s side know a victory will ensure they qualify for the round 32.

Leicester City face Legia Warsaw in a potentially decisive encounter for Brendan Rodgers side. While Legia will be in the top two if they win and group rivals Spartak Moscow will not, the Foxes must avoid defeat or win and hope Napoli falter if they are to avoid either an early exit or finishing third – which means demotion to the Conference League. For Leicester they will be without their midfield general Youri Tielemans as he suffered a calf injury just before the international break as well as Ricardo Pereira, Wesley Fofana and James Justin. Rodgers will be hoping that Ayoze Perez and James Maddison alongside Paston Daka provide the much needed attacking impetus that the team is currently missing.

West Ham go to Vienna to face Rapid Wien, where a victory for the Hammers will result in them winning the group. For the hosts, they must need three points to stand any chance of qualifying into the next round, placing a lot of importance on their performance against the Hammers. West Ham have been ruthless in their performances so far in Europe, which is why they have already qualified for the knockout stage of the competition. David Moyes will be without Angelo Ogbonna who underwent surgery for his torn ACL, other than that West Ham have a full squad to choose from as Moyes will look to give youngsters opportunities to shine.

Monaco head into their Group B fixture with Real Sociedad knowing that victory will secure their place in the Europa League knockout stages. While Sociedad are yet to lose any of their four group fixtures but defeat to Monaco may leave them requiring all three points on matchday six. Monaco are winless in their last three league games, but the Monegasques outfit have fared much better in continental competitions, putting together a four-match unbeaten streak and collecting eight points in the process. For Monaco they will be without Krepin Diatta, Benoit Badiashile and Cesc Fabregas as Ben Yeddar can make his first start in this tournament. For Sociedad, Mikel Oyarzabal will in line to make his first in over two months

Also read: Champions League: Carrick’s Man Utd progress into the knockouts while Chelsea thrash Juventus and Barca draw against Benfica

Bayer Leverkusen take on Celtic in a bid to secure all three points and qualify for the last 32. The Hoops, meanwhile, could move into the top two with a victory at the BayArena if Real Betis were to drop points against Ferencvaros . After a difficult spell of five games without a win across all competitions, Bayer Leverkusen have since claimed two victories and a draw from their next three matches giving them the much needed confidence for this match. Bayer will be without Patrick Schick, Charles Aranguiz, Mitchell Bakker, Julian Baumgartlinger, Fosu Mensah and Lucas Alario as Gerardo Seoane’s side will have to again rely on Florian Wirtz for some individual brilliances.

The other fixtures are: