Thursday’s Europa League matchday eight predictions: Stuttgart hotshot should punish Young Boys
Where to watch the Europa League
Every Europa League fixture on matchday eight is available on TNT Sports or Discovery+
8pm Thursday
Best bets
Jamie Leweling to score at any time vs Young Boys
2pts 15-8 general
Genk to win & under 3.5 goals vs Malmo
3pts 11-10 BoyleSports, Coral, Ladbrokes
Over 3.5 goals in Ludogorets vs Nice
2pts 19-10 Hills
Europa League matchday eight predictions
Stuttgart vs Young Boys
There was no Europa League hangover for Stuttgart on Sunday as they eased to a 3-0 Bundesliga win away to Borussia Monchengladbach, having lost 2-0 at Roma three days earlier.
The result in Rome leaves Stuttgart two points outside the top eight ahead of the final league-phase fixtures but they are worthy favourites to finish the league phase with a home win over Young Boys.
Germany forward Jamie Leweling is an eye-catching price to score against the Swiss visitors, who have lost their last five matches in all competitions.
Young Boys conceded 17 goals during that run so Leweling, who opened the scoring against Gladbach at the weekend, should get chances.
He is in fine form, scoring four times in his last six Bundesliga matches and firing in four shots at goal against a rock-solid Roma defence last week.
Leweling bagged a brace against Go Ahead Eagles on matchday five and had 11 shots in his first two Europa League starts against Celta Vigo and Basel.
Genk vs Malmo
Genk are a point ahead of Stuttgart so they also need a win in order to have any chance of securing a bye to the round of 16.
Nicky Hayen’s men host lowly Malmo, who have taken one point from seven Europa League games, and Genk should be backed to grind out a victory.
The Belgians are in patchy form, winning only one of their last nine games, but that was a 2-0 Europa League success at Utrecht last week.
They won 4-3 away to Braga on matchday four although that result was something of an anomaly given that their other six European ties, including September’s 1-0 win at Rangers, all ended with under 3.5 goals.
Malmo have lost 3-0 at Nottingham Forest, 2-1 at Porto and 1-0 at home to Red Star Belgrade in their last three outings, mustering only three shots on target in those defeats.
Ludogorets vs Nice
Ludogorets are just outside the top 24 so they cannot afford to slip up against visitors Nice, who finally claimed their first Europa League win of the campaign last week.
Nice followed up that 3-1 home victory over Go Ahead Eagles with a 4-1 Ligue 1 win at Nantes, having taken just one point from their previous eight league matches.
Over 3.5 goals looks the best bet on Thursday as Ludogorets chase maximum points and a place in the playoff round.
Nice’s defence is certainly vulnerable – they lost 5-1 at Toulouse on January 17 – and four of Ludogorets’ last five European games produced four or more goals.
The exception was last week’s 1-0 defeat at Rangers, where there were 11 shots on target in the match, and the goals should flow in their league-phase finale.
Read more on Europa League previews:
Aston Villa vs RB Salzburg | Nottingham Forest vs Ferencvaros | Celtic vs Utrecht | Porto vs Rangers
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