The 2020/21 UEFA Europa League has reached the group stage of the competition and there are plenty of games to look forward to on Thursday night. One of which takes place at the Philips Stadion as PSV Eindhoven entertain Granada.
This is a Group E fixture, with PAOK and Omonia being the two teams completing the group.
PSV Eindhoven have made a strong start to the season and currently sit top of the Eredivisie table. They recorded a good 3-0 victory at PEC Zwolle on the weekend, with new signing Mario Götze scoring on his debut after only 9 minutes.
It was the third successive victory for PSV Eindhoven following a 2-0 home win over Fortuna Sittard in the Eredivisie and 2-0 win at Rosenborg in the Europa League play offs.
Having played 7 matches in all competitions this season, PSV Eindhoven are undefeated, winning 6 and drawing one. They are on a run of 9 home games without defeat in all competitions and have lost only one of their last 20 matches at the Philips Stadion.
Trends show PSV Eindhoven are undefeated in 10 of their last 12 Europa League games. That includes each of their last 5 Europa League matches at home and they have kept 3 clean sheets in those 5 home games.
Granada have made a decent start to the new campaign having lost only one of their 8 competitive matches in all competitions. They come into this game on the back of an excellent 1-0 home victory over Sevilla.
It was a big match and with Sevilla down to ten men, Granada scored the winning goal in the 82nd minute. That was their third successive game without defeat in all competitions.
The only setback for Granada this season came in the away fixture at Atletico Madrid in La Liga. With the score 1-0 at half-time, Granada went on to concede a further 5 goals in the second half in what was an uncharacteristic performance.
Away form shows Granada are undefeated in 3 of their 4 away matches in all competitions this season. That includes good away victories at Teuta Durrës and Malmo in the Europa League qualifying rounds.
Granada were forced to enter the competition at the second qualifying round stage and have therefore won 3 games to reach the group stages of the Europa League.
Team news and PSV Eindhoven will be without the injured duo of Eran Zahavi and Maximiliano Romero. They also have doubts over the fitness of Armando Obispo, Érick Gutiérrez, and Marco Van Ginkel.
Granada travel without the injured trio of Domingos Duarte, Quini, and Neyder Lozano. The Spaniards also have doubts over the inclusion of Jesús Vallejo and Ramon Azeez.
This should be a close game with little to split the teams. PSV Eindhoven have been in good form so far this season and it could be them who make the breakthrough to take maximum points with a narrow one goal victory.