On Thursday night, Espanyol and Zorya go head-to-head at the RCDE Stadium in the first leg of the Europa League play-off round.
Espanyol started their domestic campaign with an opening gameweek defeat against Sevilla. However, the Catalan side will be confident of bouncing back from that defeat with a positive result in this clash.
The home side has cruised through to the play-off round, hammering Stjarnan 7-1 on aggregate before beating Luzern 6-0 on aggregate in the last round. This tie could follow in that trend if the Spanish side are on their game.
Espanyol are actually unbeaten in 18 games in 90 minutes in the Europa League dating back to 2006. However, this is the Catalan teams first season in the competition for 12 years.
🎙 Dídac Vilà: "Afrontem el proper partit amb molta il·lusió i amb ganes d'entrar a la fase de grups"👉 Roda de premsa completa, al canal de Youtube d'Espanyol TV: #RCDE | #Volem | #EspanyoldeBarcelona | #RoadtoEuropaLeague pic.twitter.com/bZMKmBygwt— RCD Espanyol de Barcelona (@RCDEspanyol) August 20, 2019
🎙 Dídac Vilà: "Afrontem el proper partit amb molta il·lusió i amb ganes d'entrar a la fase de grups"👉 Roda de premsa completa, al canal de Youtube d'Espanyol TV: #RCDE | #Volem | #EspanyoldeBarcelona | #RoadtoEuropaLeague pic.twitter.com/bZMKmBygwt
Although it may mean very little due to Espanyol’s recent absence from the Europa League, the home side are unbeaten in ten games on home soil in Europe’s secondary competition. They have also scored at least twice in eight of their last nine Europa League matches.
Ukrainian team Zorya have beaten Buducnost and CSKA Sofia to make it this far in the Europa League. The last round against CSKA Sofia was a tight tie, with the visitors sneaking through 2-1 on aggregate.
Zorya have experienced mixed fortunes of late in the Europa League, although they have suffered just one defeat in their last eight matches in European football’s secondary competition.
The visitors are unbeaten on their travels this season in Europe. However, they have won just one of their last six away games in the competition. The Ukrainian side has also conceded at least twice in four of their last six matches on their travels.
Espanyol head into this clash as big favourites for victory. Therefore, it is unsurprising that Forebet predicts that the Catalan side will record a comfortable victory in a high-scoring encounter.