We preview Villa and Forest’s Europa League fixtures and Palace’s Conference League match
Following two nights of UEFA Champions League action, the continental football festivities continue on Thursday with a full round of fixtures in Europe’s other club competitions, the UEFA Europa League and UEFA Conference League.
Here’s what you need to know about Thursday’s European matches involving Premier League clubs.
uefa europa league
aston villa vs young boys
Thursday 27 November, 17:45 GMT
Aston Villa got their Europa League campaign back on track when they defeated Maccabi Tel Aviv in the last round of fixtures.
Unai Emery’s side, who suffered a shock defeat to Go Ahead Eagles last month, are sixth in the table at the halfway stage of the league stage.
And they can now cement their place in the top eight by beating 22nd-placed Young Boys on Thursday night – thereby securing automatic qualification for the last 16.
Villa have been underwhelming at home for some time now, having won their last six matches in all competitions, while losing just once at Villa Park all season, a 3–0 defeat to Crystal Palace in August.
Young Boys, meanwhile, suffered a 4-0 defeat at PAOK Salonika on their last Europa League matchday – and they lost 3-0 to Villa when they met in Bern last season in the Champions League.
However, they remain second in the Swiss Super League after beating FC Winterthur 5-0 at the weekend.
Christian Bedia, the Ivorian forward who spent last season on loan at Hull City, is their top scorer with five goals.
nottingham forest vs malmo ff
Thursday 27 November, 20:00 GMT
The European clash against Malmo will bring back fond memories for a generation of Nottingham Forest fans.
This is because it was the Swedish team that Forest famously defeated to win their first European Cup in 1979, when Trevor Francis scored the winner in the final in Munich.
Now, 46 years on, Forest will be confident of a result again given their improved form under new boss Sean Dyche, having masterminded a 3-0 win at Liverpool last weekend.
It was in the Europa League that Dyche established his reign by memorably beating Porto at the City Ground last month.
Forest then played out a draw away at Sturm Graz, but are still only 23rd in the standings, with a long way to go to ensure at least a knockout stage play-off spot by finishing in the top 24.
Meanwhile, Malmo are yet to win in Europe this season and have only one point.
They ended their domestic campaign 18 days early, finishing sixth in Allsvenskan and missing out on European qualification for 2026/27.
Malmo have a familiar face in defender Pontus Jansson, previously of Leeds United and Brentford, while their 19-year-old forward Daniel Gudjohnson is the London-born son of former Chelsea striker Eidur Gudjohnson.
uefa conference league
Strasbourg vs Crystal Palace
Thursday 27 November, 20:00 GMT
Crystal Palace have made a solid start on their debut in Europe.
With two wins from their three Conference League matches, Oliver Glasner’s side are ninth in the standings at the halfway mark and eyeing automatic qualification for the last 16.
Palace are also flying high domestically and moved into the Premier League top five following a 2-0 win at Wolverhampton Wanderers last weekend, with their fans now dreaming of Champions League football next season.
However, Glasner’s side will not underestimate Thursday’s opponent Strasbourg, who are managed by Liam Rosenior, and are unbeaten in the Conference League.
Strasbourg have former Chelsea defender Ben Chilwell, who spent the end of last season on loan at Palace, and was an unused sub when they beat Manchester City in the FA Cup final.
The French side also have three players on loan from their sister club Chelsea – goalkeeper Mike Penders, defender Mamadou Sarr and winger Kendry Paez.
However, Strasbourg’s dangerous man is Joaquin Panichelli. He is the second-top scorer in Ligue 1 this season and made his debut for Argentina earlier this month, when he replaced Lionel Messi.
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