Sports Blog 29/07/2015: Match Preview – Europa League Third Qualifying Round, Thursday 30th July 2015

Thursday’s a busy night for English sides trying to claw their way into the Europa League, with Southampton and West Ham in action!

The Saints take on Vitesse in their first game of the 2015/16 season, entering at the third round of qualifying after finishing 7th in the Premier League (with various complications meaning the qualification spot taken by Chelsea for winning the League Cup was passed to Southampton). It’s their first appearance in Europe since they exited the first round of the 2003/04 UEFA Cup to Steau Bucuresti, and comes after a season where St Mary’s finest truly outperformed even the highest expectations following a tough summer.



Sadly for the Saints, as they did last season, they have suffered a bit of an quality-player-exodus over the summer months, with Morgan Schiederlin going to Manchester United and Nathaniel Clyne going to Liverpool being the biggest losses. They’ve been busy on the buyer’s market, however; Spanish striker Juanmi, Portuguese defender Cedric Soares and Dutch midfielder Jordy Clasie are the main signing, complimented by loan spells for Fulham’s Maarten Stekelenburg and QPR’s Steven Caulker.

Like Southampton, Vitesse are entering the Europa League in the third round of qualifying; however, they had to do a bit more than the Saints to get there. Finishing 5th in the Eredivisie meant Vitesse didn’t get a qualification spot, but the right to play for the qualification spot. Beating the 6th place PEC Zwolle in the play-off semi-finals and then the 7th place Heerenveen in the final saw Vitesse finally reach the third qualification round, in what is a fairly arduous route to the competition proper. And sadly for the Dutch side, it might prove to be all for nout; our Spreadex traders fancy last season’s surprising Saints to win at home, at a Southampton/Vitesse Goal Supremacy spread of 1.4-1.6, with a total goals spread of 2.55-2.75.

West Ham, on the other hand, are 2015/16 Europa League qualifying veterans at this point; they face Astra Giurgiu in the third round. After beating Lusitanos 4-0 over 2 legs in the first round, the Hammers made a bit of a meal of it against Maltese Premier League bronze medallists Birkirkara in the second. After waiting until the 90th minute for James Tomkins to score in the 1st leg at Upton Park, West Ham then failed to equalise in Malta after a 15th minute goal by Fabrizio Miccoli. Extra time couldn’t break the deadline, meaning it went to a dreaded penalty kick-off. And whilst West Ham eventually won 5-3, it’s a lot of effort to beat a side that, as mentioned, only finished 3rd in the Maltese Premier League.



A mess of reasons, largely to do with the insolvency of CFR Cluj, meant that Romania’s Astra Giurgiu entered at the second round of qualifying, facing Inverness CT in the process. It was a tightly run thing, with an away goal at the Caledonian Stadium in the 1st leg being all that separated the two sides following a bore draw in Giurgiu. Despite their fumbling of the second round, our Spreadex traders still fancy the Hammers to come good, and have them at a West Ham/Astra Giurgiu Goal Supremacy quote of 1-1.2, with a Total Goals spread of 2.45-2.65.