Europa League Preview: Slavia Prague vs Anderlecht
FIy999 2024/12/12 06:46
Anderlecht travel to Slavia Prague in the Europa League on Thursday, hoping to strengthen their chances of securing automatic qualification to the last 16.
preview
After coming through a qualifier against Belarusian outfit Dinamo Minsk in August, Anderlecht made the perfect start to the league phase with three straight wins to begin their European campaign.
The first victory came against Ferencvaros in September, when they won 2-1 in Brussels, despite Nilson Angulo's late dismissal setting up a tense finish to the game.
That result marked the first win of David Hubert's tenure at the club, after he replaced Brian Riemer in the dugout at Lotto Park earlier that month.
Hubert's side followed up that success against Ferencvaros with further triumphs away to Real Sociedad and against Bulgarian champions Ludogorets.
Since then, they have drawn two consecutive fixtures in the competition - Latvian side RFS netted a late equaliser in Riga to earn a 1-1 draw against Les Mauve et Blanc, and an exciting clash with Porto in Brussels last month finished 2-2.
Meanwhile, the hosts have found the group stage action far more challenging, with only four points on the board from their first five games.
Slavia got off to a flying start with a 2-0 win against Ludogorets in their opening fixture, and a 1-1 draw with Ajax left them in a healthy position after their first two matches.
Since that draw with Francesco Farioli's men at the beginning of October, the Czech side have faced a tricky run of fixtures in the Europa League, narrowly losing to Athletic Bilbao, Eintracht Frankfurt and Fenerbahce.
Those results have left Jindrich Trpisovsky's team with plenty of work to do, as they currently sit outside the playoff positions in 26th place in the Europa League table.
However, with three group games remaining, Slavia are still only one point away from Union Saint-Gilloise, who occupy the final knockout phase playoff spot in 24th place.
The hosts will look to take confidence from their league form into European action, as they currently sit 10 points clear of Viktoria Plzen in the Czech First League and remain undefeated domestically.
Slavia Prague possible starting lineup:
Kinsky; Boril, Ogbu, Holes; Diouf, Dorley, Zafeiris, Doudera; Pech, Chytil, Lingr
Anderlecht possible starting lineup:
Coosemans; Foket, Simic, Jorgensen, N'Diaye; Dendoncker, Stroeykens, Rits; Dreyer, Dolberg, Amuzu
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Anderlecht
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Slavia Praha
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UEFA Europa League
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