Feyenoord will look to book their first Europa League win of the campaign when they host Austrian side Wolfsberger on Thursday. Kick-off at De Kuip is at 5.55pm.
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Last weekend, Feyenoord missed several chances, including a penalty, as they were held to a 0-0 draw at Dinamo Zagreb.
Dick Advocaat’s side will now look to record their first victory in the group when Wolfsberger visit De Kuip. The Austrian side held CSKA Moscow 1-1 last week, but they have had a difficult start to their league campaign.
After five games, Wolfsberger only has three points and sit tenth in the table. At the weekend they were defeated 4-3 at home by Rapid Wien but last season they finished third in the Austrian Bundesliga, and recorded a win over Borussia Monchengladbach in the Europa League, while drawing twice with AS Roma.
Feyenoord, are still unbeaten since last year, but were held to a disappointing 2-2 draw by RKC Waalwijk at the weekend. They currently sit fifth in the Eredivisie.
Advocaat told his pre-game press conference, “It’s a home game and you have to win it. But it is an annoying team. Borussia Mönchengladbach lost 4-1 to them, AS Roma was unable to beat them and they draw against CSKA Moscow. Everything points to a difficult team that has nothing to lose. There will be no audience tomorrow, they can play freely.”
Team News
Advocaat has issues heading into the game with Nicolai Jorgensen, Leroy Fer and Joao Carlos Teixeira all missing the game through injury. Marcos Senesi is suspended after being sent off against Dinamo Zagreb last week.
Nouafal Bannis was training with the first-team this week and could play a part. Lutsharel Geertruida could be asked to slot into the midfield due to a lack of options.
Possible Feyenoord line-up: Bijlow, Nieuwkoop, Haps, Botteghin, Spajic, Geertruida, Kokcu, Toornstra, Diemers, Berghuis, Linssen
Wolfsberger will be without Guram Giorbelidze, Lukas Schofl, and Dario Vizinger due to injury.
Possible Wolfsberger line-up: Kofler, Novak, Scherzer, Baumgartner, Lochoshvili, Liendl, Leitgeb, Taferner, Wernitznig, Dieng, Joveljic
Odds
Feyenoord 8/15 Draw 7/2 Wolfsberger 19/4
Feyenoord need to win if they are to top of the group
Feyenoord should have defeated Dinamo Zagreb last week, and they have had issues taking their chances recently. Without Jorgensen and Bozenik, Feyenoord are looking light up front, and Bryan Linssen has struggled through the middle.
Advocaat will be hoping that they can find their shooting boots against Wolfsberger tomorrow, who will look to frustrate the hosts.
The Austrian side have shown themselves to be difficult to beat in Europe but Feyenoord should be favourites for the clash and a win is definitely achievable.