5 Europa League Tips to Look Out For on Thursday - 4/11/21

On Thursday night in the Europa League, Real Sociedad host Sturm Graz at Reale Arena in Group B.

The La Liga outfit beat Graz 1-0 in Austria last time out thanks to an Alexander Isak goal in a match that they dominated, having had 15 shots to Sturm’s four, so they will be expected to win by a bigger margin when the two meet in Spain.

As things stand, Sociedad have five points in the group, having drawn 2-2 against PSV, as well as doing the same via a 1-1 scoreline against AS Monaco. Imanol Alguacil’s side are currently top of La Liga having earned 25 points from 12 matches and will expect to beat the Austrian Bundesliga side comfortably, as the visitors have lost all three fixtures in the group stage so far and sit 12 points adrift of Red Bull Salzburg in their domestic league after 13 games.

In Group C, Legia Warsaw take on Napoli in a must-win match for the Italian’s, who have picked up just four points from their opening three matches.

Legia are top of the group with six points, two ahead of both Napoli and Leicester City following two 1-0 victories over Spartak Moscow and the Foxes, before being beaten 3-0 away at Napoli last time out, where Lorenzo Insigne, Victor Osimhen and Matteo Politano all scored in the last 14 minutes of the game.

Prior to their victory at home to Warsaw, Luciano Spalleti’s side had drawn 2-2 away at Leicester where Osimhen scored a brace, as well as being beaten 3-2 by Spartak, meaning that this will not be an easy ride for the side who are currently top of Serie A.

Genk and West Ham go head to head with one another in Group H, with David Moyes knowing that a win for his side would earn them qualification to the knockout rounds.

The Hammers have won all three matches following their comfortable 3-0 victory over Genk on matchday three, where Craig Dawson, Issa Diop and Jarrod Bowen all got on the scoresheet. The Irons two other results in the Europa League include 2-0 wins against Dinamo Zagreb and Rapid Vienna.

Genk beat Rapid Vienna 1-0 on matchday one, before being thumped 3-0 by Zagreb, hence why West Ham come into this match as firm favourites.

A player to take note of in this match is Bowen, as the former Hull City man is in good form, having scored against both Genk and in West Ham’s thumping 4-1 win at Villa Park on the weekend.

In Group B, AS Monaco take on PSV Eindhoven at Stade Louis II with the hosts knowing that a victory here will seal qualification to the knockout stages.

The last time these two sides met in Eindhoven, Niko Kovac’s men defeated PSV 2-1 thanks to goals by Myron Boadu and Sofiane Diop either side of a Cody Gakpo strike.

Monaco have seven points from their opening three matches, following a 1-0 victory over Sturm Graz, as well as a 1-1 draw with Real Sociedad. Meanwhile, PSV drew 2-2 with Sociedad on matchday one, before demolishing Graz 4-1 via goals by Ibrahim Sangare, Eran Zahavi, Phillipp Max and Yorbe Vertessen, demonstrating their goalscoring capabilities.

The final tip on this list comes from Group E where Marseille host Lazio at the Orange Velodrome.

Marseille have drawn all three of their Europa League games so far, having drawn 1-1 with Lokomotiv Moscow on matchday one thanks to a Cengiz Under penalty. Their other two games finished in 0-0 draws against both Galatasaray and Lazio.

Lazio have four points from three games after their stalemate with Marseille at the Stadio Olimpico. In their first Europa League game of the season, Maurizio Sarri’s side lost 1-0 to Galatasaray, but, defeated Lokomotiv Moscow 2-0 last time out.

Ciro Immobile is a player to look out for here, as the 31-year-old Euro 2020 winner has scored nine goals in 10 Serie A matches this season including in a 2-2 draw with Atalanta last time out, hence why he is priced at 7/2 to score first against Marseille.