5 Tips for Thursday’s Europa Conference League Action - 21/10/21

In Group C, AS Roma travel to Norway where they’ll play Bodo Glimt in a top of the group clash where a victory put Jose Mourinho’s side within touching distance of qualification to the knockout stages.

The Norwegian’s have four points to their name having beaten Zorya Luhansk at home 3-1, thanks to goals by Ulrik Saltnes, Ola Solbakken, Amahl Pellegrino, as well as drawing 0-0 versus CSKA Sofia.

Mourinho’s men have already asserted their dominance in the group, as they thrashed Sofia 5-1 on matchday one as Lorenzo Pellegrini (2), Stephan El Shaarawy, Gianluca Mancini and Tammy Abraham all got on the scoresheet, before they sealed another comfortable win on matchday two away at Zorya, where El Shaarawy, Chris Smalling and Abraham all scored, meaning that Roma have found the back of the net eight times in two matches.

One of the competition’s favourites in the shape of Tottenham Hotspur travel to Vitesse in Group G.

Spurs have had a rocky start to life under Nuno Espirito Santo, but, look to have picked themselves up in the Premier League, following an important 3-2 victory over Newcastle last weekend thanks to goals by Tanguy Ndombele, Harry Kane and Son Heung-min. In the Europa Conference League, both teams have scored in each of Spurs’ matches, as they drew 2-2 with Rennes on matchday one, before hammering Mura 5-1 thanks to a Kane hattrick, whilst Dele Alli and Giovani Lo Celso both got on the scoresheet.

Meanwhile, Vitesse have shown their goalscoring capabilities, having beaten Mura 2-0 away from home and in their 2-1 loss to Rennes. The Dutch Eredivisie side did beat Feyenoord earlier this month 2-1 at home, thanks to a Lois Openda brace in a match that saw them finish with nine men following red cards for Matus Bero and Thomas Buitink.

Feyenoord take on Union Berlin in Group E, with the German Bundesliga outfit sitting just one point behind the hosts who are top of the standings.

On matchday one, Feyenoord drew 0-0 with Maccabi Haifa away from home, before defeating last season’s Europa League quarter-finalists Slavia Praha 2-1 at home thanks to goals from Orkun Kokcu and Bryan Linssen.

Meanwhile, Union were beaten 3-1 away at Slavia Praha on matchday one despite levelling the score up at 1-1 through Kevin Behrens, despite being down to 10 men following Paul Jaeckel’s 39th-minute red card. The Bundesliga outfit earned their first win in the competition last time out with a comfortable 3-0 victory over Maccabi Haifa thanks to goals from Andreas Voglsammer, Behrens and Taiwo Awoniyi.

Two players to look out for are Guus Til and Awoniyi, as they have both been in good form for their clubs. Til who is a 23-year-old Netherlands international attacking midfielder was named as Eredivisie player of the month in September as part of a run that has seen him score seven goals in eight league games. Nigerian striker Awoniyi is having a superb campaign so far and has scored six goals in eight Bundesliga matches, as well as finding the back of the net in his side’s victory over Haifa.

On Thursday night, in Group A, Austrian Bundesliga side LASK travel to Armenian side Alashkert.

So far in the group, the Armenian Premier League outfit have struggled in the Europa Conference League, having shipped eight goals in two matches, following a 4-1 away defeat to Maccabi Tel-Aviv and a 4-2 home drubbing at the hands to Helsinki.

On the other hand, LASK have four points from two matches, having defeated Finnish side Helsinki 2-0 away from home as Austrian duo Dario Maresic and Christoph Monschein both got on the scoreboard, before drawing 1-1 at home to Tel-Aviv following an 87th-minute equaliser by the visitors, showing that they are much better prepared for European competitions than their upcoming opponents.

The final tip on this list comes from Group G, where NS Mura and Rennes go head-to-head with the away side coming in as firm favourites.

Mura lost 2-0 against Vitesse on matchday one, before being trounced by Tottenham, whilst Rennes earned themselves a solid 2-2 draw against the Lilywhites on matchday one, as goals from Flavien Tait and Gaetan Laborde were cancelled out by an own goal from Loic Bade and a neat finish from Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg. Bruno Genesio’s side then went on to beat Vitesse 2-1 with strikes from Serhou Guirassy and Kamaldeen Sulemana completing a comeback win.

Summer signing from Montpellier, Laborde, looks to be a superb piece of business, as the 27-year-old has scored eight goals and created one assist, with a tally of three in five in Ligue 1 for his current team, including their second in a 2-0 victory over PSG earlier this month.