Royale Union SG vs LASK prediction: EUROPE: Europa League – Group Stage betting tips on match 2023-10-25 19:00.
After their historic visit to Anfield on matchday two, Royale Union Saint-Gilloise face the harsh reality of needing a victory here if they’re to reel in Toulouse in their UEFA Europa League (UEL) group. Encouragingly for the Brussels outfit, who are playing their UEL home games at Anderlecht’s Lotto Park, they go into Thursday’s meeting with LASK having scored four times in both of their last two competitive matches since that 2-0 defeat to Liverpool.
Putting four past their upcoming Austrian opponents would represent the first time that Union Saint-Gilloise have scored that many times in a European encounter for a whopping 61 years. While that could be viewed as unlikely by some, their recent UEL outings have certainly provided entertainment at both ends of the field, with both teams netting in five of the last six such ‘home’ games in the competition proper.
Back in Europe’s second tier for the first time in three years, LASK are still searching for their first point of this UEL campaign as they find themselves rooted to the foot of Group E. Since their 1-0 defeat to Toulouse earlier this month, the Linz club have recorded back-to-back 1-0 wins – including a significant triumph at current UEFA Champions League (UCL) participants Red Bull Salzburg – putting themselves in a position to secure successive away victories ‘to nil’ for the first time since August 2021.
If they achieve that goal, LASK will start to redress the balance in their record against Belgian sides, having lost three of their previous four H2Hs (W1). The most recent of those meetings on their travels saw them come out on top against Royal Antwerp, also now in the UCL, three seasons ago which at least offers some positivity for this visit.
Players to watch: Gustaf Nilsson will no doubt be full of confidence heading into this clash after recording four goal involvements in his last two appearances (G3, A1) – four of his last five goal contributions came before HT. In similarly strong form is Robert Žulj, who has netted LASK’s last two winners and is targeting his 20th goal in just his 45th appearance for Die Schwarz-Weißen.
Hot stat: The home side on the day have scored in the first half in nine of LASK’s last 12 UEL matches.