While some groups in the 2017/18 UEFA Europa League are almost done and dusted, there is still all to play for in Group A. Three teams are still able to qualify from the group, with Maccabi Tel Aviv the only team who have been eliminated from the competition. On Thursday night, the top team in Group A, Villarreal make the long trip to Kazakhstan to play the second placed team, Astana. Both teams know a win for either should be good enough to secure a place in the knockout stages of the tournament but Slavia Prague are waiting in third place for any mishaps.
Europa League – Astana Arena – Thursay 23th November – 16: 00 UK Time
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Draw Best Odd of: 23/10 at Ladbrokes |
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FC-Astana
Villareal FCAstana Form
The hosts start this match in second place in the group, having picked up 7 points from their 4 games played. Their two wins have come against the bottom team Maccabi Tel Aviv, with a resounding 4-0 win at home and a 1-0 win on the road. Astana’s other point came in a 1-1 home draw with Slavia Prague and they will be hoping to achieve something similar against a strong Spanish outfit. Astana come into this match having sealed their domestic title and will be in a confident mood. Their home form shows just 1 defeat in their last 22 games and they failed to score just once in those 22 matches.
Villarreal Form
Villarreal make the trip to the Astana Arena sitting top of Group A with 8 points from their 4 games. They are the only undefeated team in the group, having won 2 and drawn 2, picking up wins at home against Astana and away to Slavia Prague. The additional points came courtesy of draws at home with Slavia Prague and away to Maccabi Tel Aviv, both of which were games the Spaniards were expected to win. Having made a difficult start in La Liga this season, Villarreal have become very difficult to beat, losing only 2 of their last 15 games. Away form home, Villarreal have lost 1 of their last 6 games and have scored in 4 of their last 5 matches on the road.
Team News
Astana are set to be without the injured Laszlo Kleinheisler who is struggling with injury but the Hungarian midfielder is the only player likely to be unavailable for the home team. Villarreal travel without the injured duo of Samu Castillejo and Andres Fernandez. They also have doubts over midfielder Bruno and defender Ruben Semedo.
Top Betting Tips
Both teams have proven to be in a good scoring form and have been finding the back of the net with consistency home and away respectively. You can get 19/20 with Ladbrokes for both teams to score. Villarreal comfortably defeated Astana in the reverse fixture in this group and have defeated them in each of their previous 3 meetings. Knowing a win will secure progress to the knockout stages, the Spanish could take all 3 points and are on offer at 13/10 with PaddyPower to win the game.
Carlos Bacca has been the man scoring goals in recent games for Villarreal in the Europa League, having netted in each of their last 2 matches. The Colombian is available at 2/1 with Ladbrokes to score at any time.