Ryan Elliott takes a look at the British sides' first Europa League fixtures!
Eintracht Frankfurt v Arsenal - 17:55
Eintracht Frankfurt may have lost their entire strikeforce from last season (Luka Jovic, Sebastien Haller and Ante Rebic), but they’re still an excellent side under the stewardship of Adi Hutter – and they’ll cause Arsenal problems. They’ve already won their first two Bundesliga home matches, and another deep run in the competition isn’t out of the question.
The Gunners have had problems on the road—particularly in Europe—for a while now. Last season, they lost to BATE Borisov and Rennes away from home, and their shambolic display at Watford unearthed so many fundamental, deep-lying problems at the back. It’s hard to see them keeping many clean sheets this season.
It’s going to be a really interesting match, and not much separates these two in all honesty; at 7/2, a score draw looks a decent prospect.
Rennes v Celtic - 17:55
Next, I have Rennes beating Celtic at home.
The French side currently sit 2nd in Ligue 1 behind PSG, and I expect their excellent start domestically to carry into Europe.
Of course, Celtic have also predictably started well in Scotland, but two victories in their last 17 Europa League matches doesn’t read particularly well.
It’ll be a great atmosphere at Roazhon Park, like it was during their triumph against Arsenal last season, and the hosts should be relatively confident of victory.
Man Utd v FC Astana - 20:00
Manchester United welcome Astana to Old Trafford on Thursday, and I’m backing them to win to nil.
Both of United’s victories at Old Trafford (against Chelsea and Leicester) have been accompanied with a clean sheet, while Astana lost their last European away match—a qualifier against BATE Borisov back in August—2-0.
There’s always a chance United have a brain fart, but at Old Trafford they really should be keeping their Kazakhstani opponents at arm’s length.
Rangers v Feyenoord - 20:00
I’m not going to back a result for Rangers v Feyenoord, but I am going to suggest BTTS.
Despite Rangers keeping three clean sheets in their four Europa League home matches this season (though the level of opposition was abysmal), they’ve conceded in all three home games in the Premier League, and generally flatter to deceive at the back.
Steven Gerrard has generally done quite well with Rangers in Europe, but Feyenoord—who are unbeaten in the Eredivisie this season—are a stronger outfit and should have some joy on Thursday.
Wolves v Braga - 20:00
As I mentioned in my Europa League acca, I have Wolves beating Braga, but I’m going to add a little more value to that in this preview: a home win and both teams to score.
Nuno’s men beat a good Torino side twice in qualifying (each time with both teams scoring), and although their league form is a little ropey, I have them repeating the trick against their Portuguese adversaries. This is clearly going to be Wolves’ focus.
Both teams have scored in four of Wolves’ five league games so far, while Braga have only failed to score once this season – against Benfica.
Follow @RyanEJourno
