PSV Eindhoven continue their Europa League campaign with a trip to Croatia to face Dinamo Zagreb on Thursday.
- By Michael Bell
- Follow Michael on Twitter
Its been an up and down campaign in Europe for PSV so far, with one win and one defeat so far in the Europa League seeing them sit 2nd in their group.
Phillip Cocu’s side now face a Dinamo Zagreb side who sit bottom of the group after defeats to both Ludogorets and Chornomorets.
The Croatian side also sacked their coach Branko Ivankovic this week with the clubs failings in the Champions League, and the defeat to Hadjuk Split at the weekend the final straw.
PSV go into the game also on the back of a defeat, after they wasted chance after chance against Groningen, before going down 1-0 in a result which saw them fail to reclaim top spot.
There is a major boost for the Eindhoven side pre-match as Luciano Narsingh returns to the first team squad for the first time since last December. The winger has recovered from injury, and has starred in several performances for the clubs reserves.
Narsingh could even start the game with Zakaria Bakkali missing out on the 19 man squad with injury, while Park ji Sung, Georginio Wijnaldum, Jeroen Zoet and Karim Rekik aren’t involved.
Soudani is the danger man for Dinamo Zagreb, with the striker netting 6 times in 11 games so far this season, while Alen Halilovic at 17 years old is a very good talent in midfield.
Possible line-ups:
Dinamo Zagreb- Zelenika, Šimunić, Pivarić, Ivo Pinto, Šimunović, Sammir, Ademi, Antolić, Pamic, Cop, Soudani
PSV- Tyton, Brenet, Willems, Bruma, Hendrix, Schaars, Maher, Toivonen, Depay, Jozefzoon/Narsingh, Matavz
Dinamo Zagreb are a good side, and will be desperate for a win on Thursday night to get their campaign back on track. PSV will need to defend well, and effectively counter attack if they are to triumph.
A win for the Eindhoven side will put them on the brink of qualifying for the next round, but they will have to improve their finishing from the game against Groningen.
Its been a bad start for Dutch side’s in Europe this week with Ajax losing to Celtic, but hopefully PSV can restore some pride with a victory in Croatia.
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