The culmination of the Europa League group stages is what every football fan was hoping it would be, as the majority of the participants still need to fight tooth and nail on Matchday 6 to secure their spot in the round of 16 and even in the play-offs.
Teams from all over Europe, despite their standing in their respective leagues, are showing flashes of brilliance, from Europa League 2023 odds favourites Liverpool and Leverkusen to budding teams like West Ham and Freiburg.
So, read more below and enjoy the in-depth preview of the Marquee matchups for Matchday 6, courtesy of SBOTOP.
West Ham vs SC Freiburg
Group A in the Europa League is shaping up to be the most competitive cluster in the tournament. The group houses West Ham and Freiburg, the only one and two seeds that are tied for points in the whole group stage.
This match would be pivotal for both the English and German sides, making the victor of this match the sole leader in Group A and securing a sure seat in the next stage of the tournament. Both teams have had an amazing Europa League campaign, winning four of their first five matches and tallying 12 points apiece.
West Ham and Freiburg encapsulate the beauty of European football, where teams that are having pedestrian seasons in their respective leagues can come to life and showcase their own brand of football and actually strive.
The Hammers are currently in the ninth spot in the Premier League, while Freiburg are eighth in the Bundesliga, but here they are in the Europa League, shining and putting up stellar Europa League 2023 results.
The winner of this match will go to the next round, while the loser will participate in the play-offs. So, expect a thrilling and competitive outing from both teams.
Brighton vs Marseille
Just like in Group A, the top-two teams in Group B, Marseille and Brighton, are down to the wire to clinch their ticket to advance to the next round of the tournament.
Both teams were underwhelming when they started their Europa League campaign. The French side were winless in the first two games of the tournament, while the budding Brighton suffered one loss and one draw in their start.
Since then, they went on a rampage in Group B, winning all of their last three matches and propelling them to the top of the group standings. Brighton, dealing with injuries, have been leaning on João Pedro to supply the firepower for the team. Brazilian João Pedro has been having a hot foot, scoring five goals to his name, the most in the Europa League alongside Ibrahim Sadiq, Aubameyang, and Mohammed Kudos.
Meanwhile, for the French side, Marseille’s goal-getting prowess has been on full display, scoring a total of 14 goals in their first five matches. Aside from Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang averaging a goal a game, Amine Harit and Jonathan Clauss have done a tremendous job setting up their teammates, dishing out four assists apiece.
This will definitely be a dogfight for the top spot in Group B, especially when both participants are making tremendous strides like Brighton and Marseille.
Liverpool vs Union Saint-Gilloise
The Reds have locked their spot in the next round by winning four of their first five matches and tallying a total of 12 points. Liverpool are steamrolling in both the Europa League and the English top flight, overtaking Arsenal for the top spot in the Premier League standings.
Just like in the Europa League, Liverpool have also won four of their last five games in the Premier League, which includes clean-sheet wins against Brentford and Sheffield United. Mohamed Salah, aka the Egyptian Messi, is once again having a Ballon d’Or-tier season, scoring 11 goals and claiming seven assists after 16 games in the Premier League.
In the Europa League, Salah has done more of the same by scoring three goals and dishing out one assist en route to being the undisputed kings of Group E.
Meanwhile, Union Saint-Gilloise are hoping that the stars will align for them during their match against the mighty Reds.
The Belgian side are three points behind Toulouse in the group standings and are in need of an emphatic win against Liverpool to get the three points and overcome Toulouse’s goal difference.
To make things more complicated, Les Unionistes are counting on bottom-placed LASK to dominate over Toulouse to keep the French club from scoring more points. It’s always a tough ask if the club’s hopes are resting on the outcome of other adversaries, but it’s never impossible.
Leverkusen vs Molde
Like Liverpool, Leverkusen look like a mismatch against other teams in the Europa league. Xabi Alonso and his boys are dominating Group H, defeating every other helpless team clustered with them. Die Werkself remain as the only undefeated team in the Europa League. Domination is really an understatement as they seem to score at will with a total of 14 goals, and conceding the least amount of goals in the tournament with just two.
Xabi Alonso’s brilliance perfectly translated to the Europa League from the German top flight, where they sit comfortably at the top of the Bundesliga table with an 11-3-0 record, remaining as the only undefeated team in the German top flight after 14 matches.
Molde, on the other hand, are hoping for a miracle against Leverkusen. The Norwegian side are currently in the third spot in the group standings, tied with Qarabag with seven points.
Like Union Saint-Gilloise, Molde’s fate in the Europa League doesn’t just hang on their performance in the last match of the group stages, as Erling Moe’s team hopes that the winless Hacken will steal a win over Qarabag to boost Molde into the second spot, giving them a ticket to the play-offs.
●●●
CHECK OUT OUR BLOG FOR MORE FOOTBALL STORIES & ODDS
Stay updated with everything sports and betting.
Follow us on social Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.
