Europa League Previews, September 16, 2010

Joe LazarSep 15, 2010

Salzburg vs Manchester City

Man City start their Europa League campaign with a trip to Salzburg, without Adebayor, who is still struggling with a dead leg. That’s just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to Man City’s injury concerns as they will also be without Lescott and Bridge. The only strikers available are Jo and Tevez. City did have a disappointing draw against Blackburn on Saturday and the club will be looking for a nice solid win here to put that sloppy performance behind them. The away side certainly do look like the better side on paper.

Salzburg on the other hand have been looking a little bit shaky so far this season, they have only managed to pick up five points from their last fice games which is not a great start for any team, never mind one who would be hoping to build on qualifying for Europe. They are the underdogs at their own ground and the way they are playing domestically they will be lucky to finish in the top half of their league, perhaps a win here could straighten their season out, after all they aren’t a side that is lacking in talent they just aren’t applying it at the moment.

Aris vs Atletico Madrid

Atletico are starting out their defence of the Europa league title away to Aris; no doubt this wasn’t the worst team to have drawn or even anything remotely close as by all means this should be a walk in the park for the Spanish based side. Atletico have managed to keep hold of most of their assets during the transfer window and better still made some very clever signings over the summer. They look like an even better team than they did last season and their performances domestically have served to highlight that with them winning back to back fixtures. If they can continue playing the way they have been this match is definitely going to go their way.

However, it isn’t as if the home side are going to roll over and play dead champions or not. The Greeks are undefeated at home in the European competition and are a surprisingly decent side. Their domestic season has been a mixed bag of results so far, they did lose last weekend however it was to champions Panathinaikos so it would be unfair to judge them on that. They will have to work hard to stave off Atletico, but they could well push for a draw.

Liverpool vs Steaua

There is quite a bit of debate as to whether "Reds" boss Hodgson will decide to rest Torres and Gerrard in anticipation for the match with Manchester United this weekend in the Premiership.

Liverpool’s priorities should and do rest domestically at the moment with their season not having started in an all to glamorous manner. This shouldn’t be a hard match for the home side although anything seems possible with Liverpool in the last few years. There is some good news for the Reds in the fact that Cole just finished his 3 match suspension and should return to the squad which is suffering with several players out injured.

Steaua will not be looking forward to this match, they simply don’t have the same calibre of players that their Merseyside competition has. This match could be decided by the tactics that Steaua chose to play far more so than anything that Liverpool do.

PSV vs Sampdoria

PSV are enjoying somewhat of a comfortable start to their domestic season and they will be hoping that this translates into decent performances on the European stages, but when do things like this ever go smoothly? Rarely, however if they continue with their current run of form they could give Sampdoria something to worry about especially at their home ground, they’re currently joint top of their league with 13 points from five games. PSV are playing fantastic football right now and creating a lot of chances, Sampdoria will need to be tight at the back, something that they haven’t been so far this season, if they want to win.

Sampdoria aren’t doing badly domestically, their sat at 3rd in the Seria A which is certainly not a spot to complain about, however nobody would put any money on them staying there for long. On the other hand the Italians have been looking pretty impressive going forward netting three goals against Juventus, but on the defensive side they also let 3 in so this could be an issue.

Sevilla vs PSG

Sevilla are most certainly going to be disappointed about not making it into the Champions League this season, even if they are getting to play their opening match with a high profile encounter nonetheless. Sevilla are the better team on paper however they may have had their confidence knocked when they crashed out of the Champions League qualifiers against Braga. Their captain has said to the press that the team is not by any means lacking in desire to win this competition just because they were hoping to be in a more prestigious one, but this remains to be seen.

PSG have certainly landed themselves one of the least fortunate opening fixtures that they could’ve gotten in the Europa League. There aren’t a great deal of sides in this competition who are much better than them and yet they managed to get drawn against one of the few. In the last five years Sevilla have won the trophy twice and are tipped as one of the favourites to win this year. If PSG are smart they will play for a draw and hope to win at the return fixture, after all the odds of winning in Spain certainly aren’t in their favour.