UEFA Europa Conference League Matchday Two Preview

LASK or Maccabi Tel Aviv could put themselves in a strong position to qualify in Group A

There is one fixture that instantly stands out on Matchday Two of the Europa Conference League from Group A, the clash between LASK and Maccabi Tel Aviv at Woerthersee Stadium in Klagenfurt, Austria. Both sides emerged victorious in their opening matches on Matchday One. Maccabi comfortably saw off Armenian outfit Alashkert 4-1 at home whereas LASK made the trip to Finland to take on HJK Helsinki and came back to Linz with a 2-0 away victory.

A 3-1 victory at home against Flyeralarm Admira on Matchday Nine of the Austrian Bundesliga sees Dominik Thalhammer’s LASK climb up to 6^th place in the standings. A win for the Linz outfit will strongly increase their chances of progression to the knockout rounds. Likewise, Maccabi Tel Aviv will want to continue the Israeli Premier League’s recent projected future rise up the UEFA co-efficient rankings with a win in Austria.

It looks a do or die encounter in the Armenian capital Yerevan between Alashkert and HJK Helsinki. With both teams on zero points after losses on Matchday One, the losers could face a nigh on impossible task to make the knockouts post-Christmas.

Gent and Partizan look to solidify their already strong position in Group B

Group B like the aforementioned Group A also sees two sides on three points and two sides on zero points going into Matchday Two. However, unlike Group A, both sides currently on three points don’t face off until Matchday Three. Therefore, both Partizan Belgrade and KAA Gent can put themselves in a strong position to qualify for the knockouts with victories.

Partizan have made a fantastic start to the season domestically in Serbia as they look to counter rival Red Star’s dominance last campaign. Ricardo Gomes is proving a man in red-hot form at present for Crno-Beli, the Cape Verdean forward has so far in all competitions noted 16 goals this season. Flora Tallinn are approaching the end of their domestic season given the Estonian Meistriliga is a spring to autumn league and currently sit 2^nd in the standings behind Tallinn rivals Levadia.

Gent have had a challenging and inconsistent start to the domestic campaign in Belgium, sitting 13^th in the Belgian Pro League with three wins, two draws and four losses from their opening nine fixtures. A 2-1 victory over Cercle Brugge last weekend should put them in a good frame of mind to face Anorthosis Famagusta who like Gent have endured a tough start domestically, sitting 10^th out of 12 after just three games in the Cypriot First Division.

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A vital Matchday in the battle for second place in Group C

With a heavyweight of the inaugural Europa Conference League in Group C in the shape of Jose Mourinho’s AS Roma, it increasingly looks for the other three teams a battle to finish second behind Giallorossi. One of the other sides in the group, Zorya Luhansk of Ukraine will face Mourinho’s Roma in Zaporizhzhia on Matchday Two. Viktor Skrypnyk’s side suffered a 2-0 away loss on Matchday One to FK Bodo/Glimt. Could they take advantage of Roma having to do a sizeable amount of travel and pull off a shock result to revive their European hopes?

The other match in the group looks very even on paper and could also prove vital in the fight for qualification. CSKA Sofia face off against Bodo/Glimt of Norway at the home of CSKA’s big rivals Levski Sofia, the Vasil Levski National Stadium. Despite a 5-1 away loss to Roma at the Stadio Olimpico, Irish attacker Graham Carey gave himself a memory he will never forget after netting the opening goal of the match. CSKA go into the match off the back of a fine 2-1 home victory over Levski last weekend. Can they put the last matchday’s disappointment in Rome behind them and come away with a win which could prove vital for their qualification hopes?

How will AZ juggle European football in Group D with a struggling domestic campaign?

One side who many looked on as potentially having a strong run in the inaugural Europa Conference League were AZ Alkmaar. The Northern outfit finished 3^rd and 2^nd in the last two Eredivisie campaigns and have established themselves as a threat to Dutch football’s traditional “Big Three” of Ajax Amsterdam, PSV Eindhoven and Feyenoord.

However, so far domestically in 2021/22, things have not been great for Pascal Jansen’s AZ, Kaaskoppen lie only 12^th so far in the Eredivisie and could only manage a 2-2 draw on Matchday One of Group D with Danish Superliga outfit Randers FC. However, AZ did manage last weekend to win 5-0 domestically against Go Ahead Eagles, a result which could breath life into their European campaign, which sees them face Jablonec on Matchday Two. The Czechs gave their knockout qualification chances a boost by defeating Romanian champions CFR Cluj on Matchday One.

Having played in all three European club competitions so far this season, CFR Cluj, who currently lead their domestic league after 10 matches can ill-afford to fall too far behind in the race for qualification to the knockout rounds. They face Randers in Cluj-Napoca on Matchday Two in a must win contest.

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Another matchday of intrigue in Group of Death E

Containing Slavia Prague, Feyenoord, Maccabi Haifa and Union Berlin, Group E was widely regarded as a so-called “Group of Death” when it was put together in the Europa Conference League draw. Every matchday in this group matters and Matchday Two is another full of intrigue. Arguably game of the entire round on Matchday Two comes from Rotterdam where Feyenoord face Slavia Prague at the iconic De Kuip stadium.

Feyenoord could only record an underwhelming 0-0 draw away against Maccabi Haifa on Matchday One. However, they go into the contest against Slavia in strong domestic form, new manager Arnie Slot is starting to get his feet under the table and the goals are flowing. Since that disappointing draw in Israel, Feyenoord have defeated PSV 4-0 away in Eindhoven and both Heerenveen and NEC  3-1 and 5-3 at home respectively. Slavia’s Matchday One 3-1 victory at home against Union Berlin was helped thanks to two late goals in the 84^th and 88^th minute. This could represent their toughest test in this tough group.

In the other match, like all sides who lost their opening game, there is big pressure on Union Berlin. Currently sitting 8^th in the Bundesliga after six matches, Die Eisernen go into this “clutch” home match, played at rivals Hertha’s Olympiastadion against Maccabi Haifa off the back of a 1-0 home victory in the Bundesliga over Arminia Bielefeld. Israeli champions Maccabi proved they are not to be taken lightly as their 0-0 at home vs Feyenoord shows. Can they now prove just as tricky an opponent away from home and drive a near fatal blow into Union’s Conference League hopes?

Home comforts for PAOK and FC Copenhagen in Group F?

Like the aforementioned Partizan and Genk in Group B, both PAOK Thessaloniki and FC Copenhagen will look to strengthen their positions in Matchday Two in Group F. Both sides started this group stage as favourites to progress and both can take a substantial step towards progression with victories on home soil.

Copenhagen take on arguably the biggest underdogs in the Conference League in the shape of Gibraltar outfit Lincoln Red Imps. On Matchday One at home, Lincoln Red Imps gave a decent account of themselves before losing 2-0 to PAOK. Facing opponents of much higher intensity that what they are used to domestically will be a huge challenge for the Gibraltarians and it will be intriguing to see if they can last the pace in the Danish capital.

PAOK’s 2-0 win over Lincoln Red Imps came courtesy of goals from Chuba Akpom and Alexandru Mitrita. The Thessaloniki outfit will be able to call on the support of their iconic Toumba Stadium and the incredible atmosphere it generates on Matchday Two when facing Slovan Bratislava. Slovan went down 3-1 in the Slovak capital to Copenhagen on Matchday One and will face another tough challenge in Northern Greece this midweek.

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Must win for Spurs and Vitesse will look to make their mark in Group G

The game of Matchday One in the Conference League came courtesy of Stade Rennais vs Tottenham Hotspur at Roazhon Park. It did not disappoint either, finishing 2-2 thanks to strikes from Flavien Tait & Gaetan Laborde for Rennes and a Loic Bade own goal & Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg for Tottenham.

Matchday Two sees Spurs face off against Slovenian champions Mura at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Nuno Espirito Santo’s troops have now suffered three straight defeats in the Premier League after initially winning their first three matches of the campaign. Most damaging of all those losses being the weekend’s 3-1 away loss in the North London derby to fierce rivals Arsenal FC. Upon the draw being made, Mura were widely seen as being the weakest side in the group, therefore, anything less than three points for Spurs here will be seen as a disappointment.

Vitesse vs Rennes at the Gelredome in Arnhem, is a clash between two sides having stuttering starts domestically. Vitesse currently only lie 9^th in the Dutch Eredivisie, whereas Rennes only sit 13^th in Ligue 1. Rennes should despite them being away from home be seen as the favourites here. However, Vitesse will be fired up knowing that should they wish to shock either of Rennes or Tottenham and qualify ahead of either of those two sides, making the most of home matches like this midweek is vital.

More goals and some victories the order of the day in Group H

To say Group H was a little flat on the opening Matchday of the new Conference League was an understatement as both matches between Kairat Almaty & Omonia Nicosia and Qarabag FK & FC Basel finished 0-0. More goals will hopefully be the order of the day on Matchday Two.

Group favourites Basel seem extremely determined to restore themselves as the dominant force in Swiss football after four straight championship wins by rivals Young Boys Bern. Rotblau are so far unbeaten in 2021/22 domestically with five wins and three draws from their eight domestic fixtures. Patrick Rahmen, a Basel native, living the dream of managing his hometown club will be looking to the home St Jakob-Park crowd for assistance in helping Basel triumph in Matchday Two against Kairat.

GSP Stadium in Nicosia is the venue for the final game of Matchday Two where Cypriot champions Omonia Nicosia face Azeri runners-up Qarabag. Omonia are coached by former Blackburn Rovers player and manager Henning Berg. In addition, they have a recognisable name amongst their playing staff in the shape of club playing captain Jordi Gomez, formerly of Wigan Athletic and Swansea City. Qarabag have never progressed beyond the group stages of a European club competition, a victory in the Cypriot capital would help towards achieving this objective for Gurban Gurbanov’s outfit.