Union Berlin and Union Saint-Gilloise make their debuts in the Europa League on Thursday when they take on each other in the opening round of the group stage. You can live bet on the UEL action by using our sportsbook.
Union Berlin vs Royale Union Saint-Gilloise
The German outfit featured in the group phase of the UEFA Europa Conference League last season when they failed to find a way out of the section with Slavia Prague, Feyenoord, and Maccabi Haifa, coming third at the end of the campaign. They look strong and impressive this season and they are sitting fourth in the Bundesliga standings unbeaten in five games. They held reigning champs Bayern Munich to a 1-1 draw last weekend and are ready for their Europa League debut.
The last defeat suffered at home by Union Berlin was back in February and the team is incredibly resilient in front of their fans. Urs Fischer’s squad will be as ordered and disciplined as ever. In a league primarily known for its open attacking, Union has risen up the ranks with defense. They were just ninth in goals scored last season, but they were third in goals allowed.
It didn’t work in last year’s Conference League but it will definitely work this season in the Europa League as the experience is now on their side. This team might be deeper than it was a season ago but they will still have problems domestically because they are not used to playing every three days. Still, they are one of our favorite teams and we will include them in our soccer picks and parlays.
On the other side, Royale Union Saint-Gilloise is making history with their Europa League debut. They have been erratic on the road this season, losing two of their last three away games, including a thumping 3-0 defeat to Rangers in Europe. Union Berlin is in better form and has more attacking quality so they should be able to kick off their UEL campaign with a win.
Parlay Pick: Union Berlin -1 at -110
Lazio vs Feyenoord
Lazio and Feyenoord will cross paths on the first round of the 2022/23 UEFA Europa League campaign. In the last edition of the Europa League, Lazio made it to the knockout round playoffs after finishing second in their group but then ended up losing against Porto. Lazio has not had a great start to their domestic league winning just two in five games including a great 3-1 victory against Inter Milan.
Lazio has won just one of their last 13 games on the road in Europe, so will be very happy to start this campaign in front of their fans. Despite sealing a fifth-place finish last term, Lazio was not the most reliable of teams, allowing many goals home and away. They enter this clash as favorites being priced at -105 on the three-way Moneyline according to the latest soccer odds while the goal line is set at three.
On the other side, Feyenoord lost the UEFA Europa Conference League final to AS Roma back in May. Feyenoord has four victories and a draw in the opening five rounds of their domestic league sitting second in the standings, two points behind leaders Ajax. They are scoring goals for fun with 14 goals netted in five games and look ready to pull off the upset against Lazio. It’s a bit risky to play the ML in this match but we expect a high-scoring affair so we are taking the overs.
Pick: Over 3 goals in the match at -110
Crvena Zvezda vs AS Monaco
The sides reached the last-16 stage of this competition last season so the expectations are higher this time around. They were drawn into Group H together with Trabzonspor and Ferencvaros with all four teams having a good chance to qualify in the knockout stages.
The hosts kicked off their UEFA Europa campaign last term with an impressive 2-1 home win over Sporting Braga and will be hoping for another positive start this time. The Serbian champions suffered a dip in form in the national championship, with the teams sharing the spoils with both Partizan and TSC, and, no doubt, new boss Milos Milojevic is under big pressure ahead of Thursday’s clash.
On the other side, AS Monaco topped their Europa League group last season before being knocked out by Braga 3-1 on aggregate in the round-of-16. They were knocked out of the Champions League qualifying rounds earlier this season losing to PSV so they will be eager to turn that around.
They will be without forwards Kevin Volland and Myron Boadu due to foot injuries. They are struggling domestically winning just two in six Ligue 1 games but they enter this clash on the back of an important 1-0 win against Nice. They will play Lyon next weekend so we expect them to rest some of their key players. If you’re soccer betting online, make sure you avoid backing Monaco for now.
