The UEFA Europa League resumes on Thursday with Matchday Two of the group stage.
Here are five games to keep close tabs on…
FC Krasnodar vs Everton
The running narrative: The Toffees’ inability to keep a clean sheet and display the defensive solidity that made Roberto Martinez’s debut campaign on Merseyside last season a resounding success.
Interesting tidbit: This will be the first meeting between these two sides, with Everton winning their only other encounter against Russian opposition six years ago (1-0 vs Zenit St. Petersburg).
The edge: Pretty straightforward here as the visiting Toffees should depart the Kuban Stadium with three points. Naturally, a trip to Russia always provides a plethora of obstacles—weather, jet lag, hostile crowds and terrible pitch conditions—for opposing clubs. However, the gulf in class and quality is unavoidable, as Everton are the clear favourites.
Last word: The hosts may be massive underdogs, but if they can beat Tim Howard early and force the Toffees to chase the result, Krasnodar could pull off the upset.
Thursday programming alert: Watch Krasnodar vs Everton on all four main Sportsnet channels at noon ET, Slovan Bratislava vs Napoli on Sportsnet ONE at 1:00 pm ET, Wolfsburg vs Lille on Sportsnet World at 1:00 pm ET, Tottenham vs Besiktas on all four main Sportsnet channels at 3:00 pm ET, and Celtic vs Dinamo Zagreb on Sportsnet World at 3:00 pm ET. || Also, watch these eight games exclusively online at Sportsnet World NOW: Dinamo Minsk vs. Fiorentina at 1:00 pm ET, HNK Rijeka vs Sevilla at 1:00 pm ET, Dynamo Kyiv vs Steau Bucharest at 1:00 pm ET, Villarreal vs Apollon Limassol at 3:00 pm ET, Torino vs Copenhagen at 3:00 pm ET, Inter Milan vs Qarabag at 3:00 pm ET, and Estoril vs Panathinaikos at 3:00 pm ET
Slovan Bratislava vs Napoli
The running narrative: The return of Napoli captain Marek Hamsik to the place where he began his professional career.
Interesting tidbit: Bratislava might take credit for unearthing the talented Hamsik. However, his development can be attributed to the three seasons spent at Italian side Brescia—arriving as a raw 17 year-old in 2004 after playing barely over a handful of senior matches with the Slovakian Sky Blues.
The edge: The thought of taking a trip to the Slovakian capital isn’t quite alluring to foreigners travellers. But the odds of a disastrous and embarrassing upset is highly unlikely for Napoli’s first visit to Bratislava in club history—regardless of their stop-start form in Serie A.
Last word: The Slovak Super Liga champions were demolished last time out by Young Boys Bern 5-0 in Switzerland—a club who finished third in the Swiss Super League last season.
Celtic v Dinamo Zagreb
The running narrative: The Scottish champions continue to showcase just how awful their domestic league has become with each passing European night.
Interesting tidbit: The Hoops are undefeated in Glasgow against Croatian opponents, the most recent meeting happening over 16 year ago.
The edge: You would assume that Celtic have the edge on their home turf, but given their very average overall form in all competitions, anything is possible. Ronny Deila is struggling to find the right formula, as the Hoops sit in fourth spot after seven Scottish Premiership matches.
Last word: As funny as it sounds this early in the competition, Thursday’s encounter could very well be the definitive fixture in Celtic’s Europa League campaign. A loss would be difficult to bounce back from and would leave them with a single point heading to Romania on match-day 3 to face FC Astra Giurgiu.
Tottenham vs Beskitas
The running narrative: Slaven Bilic returns to North London with Besiktas hoping a second attempt at toppling their Premier League foe is a successful one—the Turkish side lost to Arsenal in the Champions League playoff round.
Interesting tidbit: Its been eight years since these two sides met in their one and only competitive encounter. On that day, Martin Jol’s Spurs departed Istanbul’s Ataturk Olympic Stadium with a 2-0 victory in the UEFA Cup group stage.
The edge: Mauricio Pochettino’s new look Spurs played out a goalless draw with FK Partizan in Belgrade on Matchday 1. Besiktas split the points with Greek side Asteras Tripoli in Istanbul (1-1), with the Black Eagles squandering their first-half lead by conceding a late equalizer. Tottenham should secure all three points at White Hart Lane, as they are of course the vastly superior team on paper. However, after four wins from five matches in all competitions in the month of August, their home defeat to Liverpool began a run of poor form that has yet to be rectified.
Last word: Can the real Tottenham please stand up? Seriously. What have we learned so far in the Pochettino era at the Lane? When results are good they’re great, but when results turn bad they’re awful. You never know which side will turn up to compete.
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Wolfsburg vs Lille
The running narrative: Danish international Simon Kjaer returns to the Volkswagen Arena in Lower Saxony to face his former club.
Interesting tidbit: Die Wolfe supporters will be treated to their first European home match in over four years, though, Wolfsburg are winless in their last four encounters with French opposition at the Volkswagen Arena.
The edge: Despite being humbled and embarrassed 4-1 at Goodison Park to kick off the competition, Wolfsburg get the nod to come out on the winning side given the poor away form of their opponents—the hosts are undefeated at home this season (two wins and one draw).
Last word: Despite a woeful European away record, Les Dogues manager Rene Girard has guided his team to third spot in Ligue 1–four points off leaders Marseille. What’s more surprising, Lille are ahead of last season’s champions PSG and runners-up AS Monaco. Wolfsburg might be slight favourites over Lille, but this won’t be a walk in the park. The result really could go either way.