We’ll continue our UEFA Europa League coverage with two matches in Group H that features Arsenal (England), BATE Borisov (Belarus), Red Star Belgrade (Serbia) and FC Koln (Germany). After first three rounds Arsenal sits at the top of the table ranking with nine points while BATE and Red Star have four points each. Just like in Bundesliga, FC Koln ranks at the bottom with all three losses so far and no points earned.
Soccer-filled midweek is on the menu and we’re going to take advantage of it in order to get your piggy-bank a bit fatter so let’s take a closer look.
FC Koln (Ger) vs. BATE (Blr)
Three-Way: 1: FC Koln -116; X: +290 Draw; 2: BATE +415 at BetDSI Sportsbook
Spread -0.5: FC Koln -125; BATE +120
Total +2.5: Over +104; Under -109
FC KOLN
The Billy Goats have only one win this season that came in DFB Pokal competition last week while they are 0-2-8 in Bundesliga and 0-0-3 in UEFA Europa League. Coach Stoger is on a very hot seat right now and frankly, I’m not sure how he managed to stay at the helm this far. Incredible 1-2-11 record in all competitions is just shameful, but hopefully, the team can turn the table soon and a perfect chance for this to happen will be the Thursday’s duel against an arguably weakest opponent in the group H, having in mind that FC Koln already lost a game against Red Star Belgrade at home.
As aforementioned, they are ranked last in the domestic competition and they are coming off from another defeat last week against Bayer Leverkusen at Bay Arena (2:1). After a solid start of the game, Guirassy scored an opener in the 23rd minute to give the FC Koln half-time lead but two swift goals in the second period by Bailey and Bender destroyed Billy Goats’ hopes of recording a positive result. The fact that defender Frederik Sorensen presents a most valuable player in the attack so far with one goal and one assist says enough about the FC Koln’s team form.
Jhon Cordoba (thigh) and Nikolas Nartey (meniscus) are set to be back during next month while Jonas Hector (ankle) should be available in mid-December. Matthias Lehmann’s (head), Dominic Maroh’s (foot), Claudio Pizzaro’s (thigh) and Marius Laux’s (unknown) status is unknown while Marcel Risse (meniscus) is back in training.
BATE
The BATE Borisov team holds the pole position for the No. 2 spot in the Europa League group H at the moment. They have the same amount of points as Red Star but they’ve already locked horns in Belgrade and the guests managed to snatch a road point with a 1:1 draw. Nevertheless, they’ll need to secure some kind of a positive result in Germany on Thursday and if they succeed they’ll have the advantage to the next stage under their control because the potential matchup against the Serbs that will decide it will take place in front of their home crowd.
In the Belarus Premier League BATE team ranks at the No. 2 spot too with 61 points in 27 games and a 19-4-4 record. They did have one hiccup last weekend as they’ve recorded a 1:1 home draw against bottom-ranked Naftan team but they’re still very much in the battle for the title with only one point less than top-ranked Soligorsk.
Coach Aleksandr Yermakovich has his entire roster available for the upcoming duel.
FC Koln (Ger) vs. BATE (Blr) – Match Prediction
To be honest, the FC Koln team has been showing some signs of life lately in the domestic competitions and a first win in the UEFA Europa League might be in order. BATE’s squad is a quality one but I don’t think that they can get anything else but a defeat in Germany. I would also go with under 2.5 goals in total because matchups at the Rhein Energie Stadium have that tendency lately.
MY PICK: Koln to win (-116)
Additional pick: Under 2.5 goals (-109)
Arsenal (Eng) vs. Red Star (Srb)
Three-Way: 1: Arsenal -244; X: +486 Draw; 2: Red Star +894 at BetDSI Sportsbook
Spread -1.5: Arsenal +100; Red Star +100
Total +3: Over -114; Under +110
ARSENAL
The Gunners were the favorites to win this Europa League group after a draw and that’s proving to be the right prediction. They’ve recorded all three wins so far (3:1 over Koln at home and 4:2 and 1:0 over BATE and Red Star on the road). The advancement to the next stage should not come in question as the win over the Serbs on Thursday would secure the spot in the eight-finals that will take place in spring of 2018.
In the English Premier League, Arsenal team currently ranks at No. 5 spot with 19 points in ten games and a 6-1-3 record. They are also undefeated at Emirates Stadium with all five wins and a 13-4 goal difference. Putting aside this solid numbers, I’m sure that many Arsenal’ fans are not really satisfied with the way the squad is being run in the last couple of years, especially after last season’s failure to secure the UEFA Champions League berth. Three league losses in ten games are also not what the fans expected but almost entire season is still in front of us and we shall see how it’s going to play out.
Sead Kolasinac (hip), David Ospina (groin), Danny Welbeck (groin), Krystian Bielik (shoulder) and Santiago Cazorla (Achilles) are all out for Thursday while Shkodran Mustafi (hamstring), Calum Chambers (groin) and Gideon Zelalem (cruciate ligament) are all listed as questionable.
RED STAR
The most famous Serbian team that even has one UEFA Champions League title (1991) has managed to accomplish its best result in over twenty years and qualify for the group stage of one of the UEFA team competitions after an upset two-leg win over Russian side Krasnodar in the play-off stage. The end of surprises didn’t finish there as the team managed to snatch a road win in Koln one month ago to greatly improve their chances of advancing to the Europa League eight-finals. They currently have four points earned but a bit worse goal difference than the Belarusians.
The team is ranked at the top of the Serbian Super Liga with 40 points in 15 games and 13-1-1 record. They have four points advantage over second-ranked Partizan and they are coming off from a 1:0 road win over FK Zemun. Only scorers for the team in the Europa League are Richmond Boakye and Nemanja Radonjic with one goal each while Slavoljub Srnic has one assist.
Defensive midfielder Branko Jovicic (metatarsal fracture) and left winger Ricardinho (malleolar injury) are out for Thursday’s matchup.
Arsenal (Eng) vs. Red Star (Srb) – Match Prediction
The Red Star team has been pretty ecstatic in the Europa League so far into the season but no one is expecting them to leave London undefeated and neither do I. That’s the reason I’ll put the home team win as my first pick and over 3 goals in total as my additional one. To be honest, if the Gunners enter the game strong, it could be a long night for Serbian’s team defense.
MY PICK: Arsenal AH -1.5 (+100)
Additional pick: Over 3 goals (-114)
