On Thursday night, Espanyol host Luzern at the RCDE Stadium in the second leg of the third qualifying round of the Europa League.
The Spanish side claimed a comfortable 3-0 win in the first leg in Switzerland. The second leg looks to be something of a dead rubber, as barring a major miracle the hosts will be heading through to the play-off round.
Espanyol are actually unbeaten in 18 games in the Europa League in 90 minutes. However, prior to this season the Catalan club last featured in the competition 12 years ago. This season is a welcome return to Europe for the home side.
David Gallego’s team have been impressive in front of goal this season in the Europa League, scoring at least three goals in all three games in the competition so far.
Victoria muy especial la de ayer. Seguimos haciendo camino2️⃣1️⃣ #eterncapità #rcde pic.twitter.com/PPfWHUGzQB— Adrián Giner Pedrosa (@adripedrosa_) August 9, 2019
Victoria muy especial la de ayer. Seguimos haciendo camino2️⃣1️⃣ #eterncapità #rcde pic.twitter.com/PPfWHUGzQB
Espanyol have a stellar history of good results on home soil in this competition, as they have won eight of their last nine home matches. However, those results may mean very little, as the majority of them were in their previous spells in the Europa League.
Luzern have a poor record in the Europa League, as they have won just four of their 15 games in the competition since first qualifying back in 2010. However, half those Europa League wins were achieved this season in the last round, as the Swiss side defeated Faroe Islands outfit KI 2-0 on aggregate.
Luzern have played just seven away games in the Europa League, winning just once in 90 minutes and suffering five defeats.
Their one solitary away win was against KI in the last round, which ended a terrible run of results on their travels in this competition.
It is difficult to make a case for an away win and Forebet predicts that Espanyol will record another victory in a high-scoring encounter.