NK Maribor vs. Club Brugge UEFA Europa League preview
Currently part of a three-way tie for top spot, Club Brugge KV travel Group H back markers NK Maribor, knowing that a win will guarantee their passage through to the UEFA Europa League round of 32.
Club Brugge were comfortable 2-0 winners when the sides first met on matchday one. Vadis Odjidja put the hosts ahead on seven minutes with a fine near-post finish after skilfully turning his marker. Nabil Dirar then made it 2-0 on 24 minutes.
Maribor took on Belgian opponents in the 1999/2000 UEFA Champions League second qualifying round, winning 5-1 against KRC Genk in Slovenia and progressing despite a 3-0 loss in Belgium.
Club Brugge won their only previous games against Slovenian opponents comfortably, beating ND Gorica 5-3 away and 3-0 at home in the 1997/98 UEFA Cup second qualifying round.
Maribor are now without a win in five European games since a 2-1 victory at home against Rangers FC in the first leg of their UEFA Europa League play-off. However, they have lost only one of their last eight continental fixtures at Ljudski vrt (2-1 against Birmingham City FC on matchday two), winning five of the other games in that run and drawing two.
Club Brugge have won only one of their last seven European away fixtures (2-1 at SC Braga on matchday two) but four of those games ended in draws. Moreover, they have scored seven times in their last three ties on the road.
Standard de Liege vs. Hannover 96 UEFA Europa League preview
Standard de Liege and Hannover 96 meet in UEFA Europa League Group B, with victory for either side enough to secure a round of 32 berth; both will progress, if FC Kobenhavn lose at FC Vorskla Poltava.
The sides cancelled each other out on matchday one, drawing 0-0 despite the best efforts of Hannover playmaker Sergio Pinto and Standard’s own No7 Franck Berrier. It was Hannover’s first game against a Belgian outfit.
Standard have played German sides in 26 previous UEFA competition ties, with the record W6 D7 L13 (W3 D3 L5 at home). They have not won in ten games against German sides (five draws and five defeats) since a 1-0 home win against Karlsruher SC in the first leg of one of the three 1996 UEFA Intertoto Cup finals.
Standard are on a six-game unbeaten run in European competition (four wins and two draws) since a 1-0 defeat against FC Zurich (following a 1-1 first leg draw) saw them move from the UEFA Champions League third qualifying round into the UEFA Europa League play-offs.
Standard were the last side in this year’s group stage to concede a goal, going behind early on in their 3-1 matchday four victory at FC Vorskla Poltava – having kept clean sheets in each of their opening three games.
Standard have not conceded in any of their last three continental home games since the aforementioned tie against Zurich.
Hannover are the only side in the competition never to have lost a UEFA Cup or UEFA Europa League game. This will be their seventh game.
Hannover are unbeaten in three European away games this season; a 1-1 draw in the play-offs, followed by 2-1 victories in both of their previous Group B games on the road.
Valencia CF vs. Genk UEFA Champions League preview
Valencia CF‘s defeat of Bayer 04 Leverkusen last time out – their first victory in seven UEFA Champions League outings – cut their Group E deficit behind the German side to just a single point and they will be hoping to overtake them on matchday five when KRC Genk come to Mestalla.
The game in Belgium on 13 September – the teams’ first competitive meeting – finished 0-0.
Valencia then drew 1-1 at home to Chelsea FC but a 2-1 matchday three defeat at Leverkusen left their hopes hanging by a thread. Jonas scored the second fastest UEFA Champions League goal to set Valencia on the way to a vital 3-1 win against the Bundesliga club last time out, however, bringing them right back into contention.
On matchday two Genk went down 2-0 at Leverkusen and were then handed a sobering UEFA Champions League lesson as they lost 5-0 at Chelsea. Some pride was restored back in Belgium with a 1-1 draw against the London team, Jelle Vossen wiping out the visitors’ early goal and László Köteles pulling off a superb save from David Luiz’s spot kick.
Valencia lost their first home game against opponents from Belgium in a competitive fixture, going down 2-1 in the 1982/83 UEFA Cup quarter-final first leg against RSC Anderlecht and 5-2 overall. However their other four encounters have resulted in three wins and a draw.
Genk have yet to win in a total of five matches against Spanish opponents but four of those encounters ended all square. The exception was the away game with Real Madrid CF in the 2002/03 UEFA Champions League group stage which they lost 6-0.
Genk, who failed to win a game during their only previous UEFA Champions League participation in 2002/03, have this and the home game with Leverkusen on 6 December to try and open their account in the group stage.
Trabzonspor vs. Inter Milano UEFA Champions League preview
Inter Milano have recovered superbly well from the shock of losing to Trabzonspor on matchday one, winning their next three games. It means they approach the return fixture in Turkey with a four-point lead in Group B and are just one victory away from ensuring they finish top of the pool.
Trabzonspor, in their debut season in the UEFA Champions League group stage, followed their stunning victory at San Siro – secured through Ondřej Čelůstka’s late goal – with a 1-1 draw at home to LOSC Lille Métropole thanks to Gustavo Colman’s second-half penalty. A 3-0 defeat at PFC CSKA Moskva halted their impressive early progress, a goalless draw in the matchday four return leaving the Turkish team third in the standings, level on points with CSKA.
After that matchday one setback Inter began to put their campaign on the right road with a 3-2 win in Moscow, substitute Mauro Zárate striking late after the visitors let slip a 2-0 lead. Another away win followed, Giampaolo Pazzini scoring the only goal at Lille, and in the return against the French champions strikes in either half by Walter Samuel and Diego Milito paved the way for a 2-1 Inter win. Read more
CSKA Moskva vs. Lille UEFA Champions League preview
After taking four points from two games against Trabzonspor AS, CSKA Moskva are firmly in contention for one of the two qualifying places in Group B and on matchday five will be looking to carry on where they left off against LOSC Lille Métropole.
On 14 September, in the first ever meeting between the teams, CSKA found themselves two goals down in northern France with Moussa Sow and Benoît Pedretti scoring in a 13-minute spell just before the hour mark. The Army Men then rallied to earn a point as Seydou Doumbia struck twice in the final 18 minutes.
CSKA found themselves in the same predicament two weeks later when FC Internazionale Milano led 2-0 in Moscow. Again the Russian side fought back to restore parity but the 2010 winners had the last word this time to register a 3-2 victory.
A 3-0 matchday three defeat of Trabzonspor secured a first win in the campaign for the 2005 UEFA Cup winners with Doumbia again on target twice, either side of a goal from Aleksandrs Cauņa. A 0-0 draw in the away game in Turkey then lifted CSKA to five points, keeping them level on points with Trabzonspor and four behind Inter.
Lille drew 1-1 away in Turkey on matchday two with Sow again giving his team the lead. The French champions then slipped to two defeats against Inter, going down 1-0 at home and 2-1 in Milan, Túlio De Melo’s late goal in the latter fixture not enough to prevent another loss that left Lille three points adrift at the bottom of the section on two points.
CSKA lost their last home game against French opposition, going down 2-1 against Olympique de Marseille in the 2005/06 UEFA Cup group stage. In the same competition the previous season they beat AJ Auxerre 4-0 at home in the quarter-final to set up a 4-2 aggregate success en route to lifting the trophy. In the 2004/05 UEFA Champions League group stage CSKA were 2-0 winners against Paris Saint-Germain FC.
Before this season Lille had faced a Russian team only once, beating FC Zenit St Petersburg 2-1 at home in the 2004/05 UEFA Cup group stage.
In 12 away games at this level (excluding qualifying ties) Lille have managed just one victory, at AC Milan in 2006/07. Of the other 11 games, seven have resulted in defeat with four draws