IN-FORM Mark O'Haire (@MarkOHaire) picks out his favourite fancies from Thursday's early Europa League contests.
Qabala v Anderlecht | Thursday 16:00
Qabala
- Qabala have scored in 18/20 home games.
- Qabala have scored in 7/8 home Europa League games including against Dortmund, Lille, Mainz and Sainte-Etienne.
- Qabala have seen 4/6 Europa League home games feature Both Teams To Score this season.
- Qabala have kept only 2/8 home Europa League clean sheets.
- Qabala have had an average expected goals rate of 3.05 from across their home Europa League games against Mainz and Sainte-Etienne this season.
Anderlecht
- Anderlecht have scored in 23/24 games this season – 15/24 featured Both Teams To Score.
- Anderlecht have seen Both Teams To Score bank in 6/7 matches.
- Anderlecht scored in 6/6 Europa League games this season, 4/6 seeing Both Teams To Score.
- Anderlecht have seen 8/12 away games feature Both Teams To Score this season.
- Anderlecht have created 9 major goalscoring opportunities across their 4 Europa League fixtures, with an average of 9.5 shots from inside the opposition penalty box.
- Anderlecht have had an average expected goals rate of 3.55 from across their away Europa League games against Mainz and Sainte-Etienne this season.
Back Both Teams To Score (21/20 188BET)
Fiorentina v PAOK Saloniki | Thursday 18:00
Fiorentina
- Fiorentina have W8-D6-L1 in their last 15 games including W5-D2-L0 in their past 7.
- Fiorentina have scored 11 goals in 3/3 Europa League wins since a 0-0 draw in PAOK.
- Fiorentina have W8-D9-L1 at home since January, only losing to Juventus.
- Fiorentina are averaging 7 shots-on-target per-game in the Europa League – a Europa League high – and almost 8 attempts from inside the opposition penalty box.
- Fiorentina don’t play against until Monday so the need to rest and rotate isn’t quite as pressing with top spot in the group still up for grabs.
PAOK Saloniki
- PAOK haven’t played since 6th November due to the Greek Super League suspension.
- PAOK have lost 4/6 games including back –to-back defeats to Qarabag in the Europa League.
- PAOK have W0-D1-L3 in their last 4 away matches.
- PAOK have failed to score in 6/12 games, including 3/4 away games.
- PAOK have an average expected goals rate of 0.66 from their first 4 Europa League games, averaging only 3 shots from inside the opposition penalty box.
- PAOK are without first-choice centre-back and Greek international Georgios Tzavellas.
Back Fiorentina to win (3/4 William Hill)
Best Bets
Qabala v Anderlecht – Both Teams To Score (21/20 188BET)
Fiorentina v PAOK Saloniki – Fiorentina to win (3/4 William Hill)
