Europa League First Round

In this update we’ll be analyzing the first match in the group phase for the Europa League. All contenders will play their first match tonight in their Europa League run for this season. Currently there’s a lot of teams expected to show off equal skill in the Europa League group phase,even though we can’t point out the exact favorites before the Champions League dropouts enter the Europa League competition. We can atleast already point out the favorites that are currently active in the Group Phase. You can find the playing schedule and our predictions for all twelve Groups below..

( Group Favorites marked bold )

Group A
PAOK Saloniki –Tottenham Hotspur
Shamrock Rovers –Rubin Kazan

In this year’s Group A Tottenham Hotspur are the obvious favorites for winning this group,the English side starting off with a difficult match against PAOK Saloniki in Greece are expected to be the best team at the end of the road but will probably be happy with just one point tonight. Rubin Kazan is a outsider in this poule and matches with PAOK will probably decide wheter PAOK or Rubin will be going through to the next round. As for tonight’s match,Rubin Kazan should not be pleased with anything less than a clean victory.

Group B
Hannover 96 –Standard de Liège
FC København –FC Vorskla Poltava

Group B is a very hard poule to predict this year,group B holds three almost equally skilled teams with Standard de Liège and FC København who recently made a good impression in the Champions League over the last seasons. While also Hannover 96 is expected to be a serious contestant for going through to the next round. FC Vorskla Poltava are absolute outsiders and are not expected to play a serious role this season. As for tonight we predict a relatively easy victory for FC København over FC Vorskla Poltava,and a draw or probably a very tight win for Hannover 96 in the first group match.

Group C
Hapoel Tel Aviv –FC Rapid Bucureşti
PSV Eindhoven –Legia Warszawa

Group C has made predicting a lot easier,PSV Eindhoven from the Netherlands are expected to win this group with ease,the Dutch side has plenty of experience playing Champions League over the last season making them the most successful club in the Netherlands. Tonight they will be dealing with Legia Warszawa which is a team not to be overlooked.. However we predict a win for the home-side tonight. Outsiders in this group are Hapoel Tel Aviv and FC Rapid Bucureşti,can they make a throw for the second place in this group?

Group D
FC Zürich –Sporting Clube de Portugal
S.S. Lazio –FC Vaslui

Sporting Clube de Portugal are the absolute favorites to win Group D and maybe even make a throw for reaching the finals this season,whilst Lazio is a very dangerous outsider in this poule. This night our expectations are solid wins for Sporting Clube de Portugal and Lazio Roma.

Group E
FC Dynamo Kyiv –Stoke City FC
Beşiktaş JK –Maccabi Tel-Aviv FC

In Group E three teams will make a serious throw for winning this group,Stoke City FC,FC Dynamo Kyiv and Beşiktaş JK are all expected to have the equipment to win this group. FC Dynamo Kyiv just might be slighly better than it’s competitor’s in this group,however Stoke City FC and Beşiktaş JK are though sides and will to everything they can to make the way to the next round for FC Dynamo Kyiv as hard as possible. Maccabi Tel-Aviv FC are midget outsiders in this group and should not pose any threat.

Group F
ŠK Slovan Bratislava –Athletic Bilbao
Paris Saint-Germain FC –FC Salzburg

In group F Paris Saint-Germain just might be the team to beat,the French Capital side have a very strong team and are very dangerous going forward. Athletic Bilbao is the underdog in this group and will probably end second in this group phase. FC Salzburg and ŠK Slovan Bratislava are the outsiders in this group and will probably not have the best of chances reaching the next round. Our predictions for tonight’s matches are relatively easy wins for Paris Saint-Germain FC and Athletic Bilbao.

Group G
AZ Alkmaar –Malmö FF
FK Austria Wien –FC Metalist Kharkiv

This group doesn’t hold any real favorites,or teams that will have any realistic changes of reaching the final rounds,however if we have to pick one it will probably be AZ Alkmaar to be slightly better than the other three competitors. As for this evening,AZ Alkmaar will probably have a though night beating Malmo FF but we expect them to gain the three points anyway. As for the match between Austria Wien and Metalist Kharkiv there just might be a draw in the offing,we’re very much interested in how this group will develop.

Group H
Club Brugge KV –NK Maribor
Birmingham City FC –SC Braga

In group H we find SC Braga who are favorites in this group for continuing to the next round,last year’s protuegese finalists SC Braga will be eager to get good results in their 7th year of Europa League football in a row. SC Braga will start off in a away match at Birmingham City,even though we expect SC Braga to have the most quality in this group we do not see them win at the English grounds,a tense victory for Birmingham is what we expect. The other two teams in this group are Club Brugge KV and NK Maribor,Brugge might just have a chance of qualifying for the next round,while NK Moribor is an absolute outsider not expected to gain any victories.

Group I
Udinese Calcio –Stade Rennais FC
Club Atlético de Madrid –Celtic FC

In this group we find yet another championship challenger Club Atlético de Madrid,the Spanish giants are absolutely one of the better teams in this year’s tournament. Their opponent is Scottish top team Celtic FC,however we do not consider Celtic to be a serious side in this tournament,the club from Glasgow might have a fantastic history but the Scottish competition is falling down very rapidly,this year none of the Scottish teams successfully qualified for Champions League or Europa League football. Celtic was only qualified because of their opponent being disqualified after beating Celtic. FC. Outsiders in this group are Udinese and Stade Rennais,who will probably fight with Celtic for the third spot. As for tonight we expect Club Atlético de Madrid to win it’s first match,the match between Udinese and Rennais could turn any way,as for now we predict a draw.

Group J
Maccabi Haifa FC –AEK Larnaca FC
FC Steaua Bucureşti –FC Schalke 04

In group J we find yet another very strong German team,as we all know the German competition is rapidly developing into the best competition of Europe,last year the Germans had better coefficient rates than the Italian Serie A,making the Bundesliga officially the third competition of Europe. This year the Spanish will have to watch out for the Germans as they are rapidly closing in. With that said it’s fair to say there’s only one team in this group equiped to reach the finals,it’s the “German Blues”FC Schalke 04. Schalke 04 have an excellent team and are absolutely amongst the better teams in this year’s tournament. Maccabi Haifa,AEK Larnace and Steau are merely outsiders in this poule. We expect Schalke to win tonight,also AEK will probably be able to take down the Israelis of Maccabi Haifa.

Group K
Wisła Kraków –Odense BK
Fulham FC –FC Twente

Next is Group K,where Fulham FC is absolutely the strongest team,this Premier League team should have no problem beating Wisła Kraków and Danish Odense BK. However FC Twente is form a different level. If anyone in group K should be able to deny Fulham FC from winning it’s the Dutch side FC Twente,FC Twente have been developing into a classy club over the past years and will be a potent threat to Fulham FC. However we do not expect Twente to be able to win away at Fulham,tonight Fulham FC will probably have the better odds. As for the match between Wisła Kraków and Odense BK might just turn out into a draw.

Group L
SK Sturm Graz –FC Lokomotiv Moskva
RSC Anderlecht –AEK Athens FC

It’s not often that we pick a Belgian side as a favorite in the group stage of any European League,but in a group with weak contenders like SK Sturm Graz,FC Lokomotiv Moskva and AEK Athens FC we expect Anderlecht to have the better players and the best chances of making this a successful Europa League Season. As for tonight,we predict a relatively easy win for Anderlecht,and a tight win for FC Lokomotiv Moskva away at Sturm Graz.