Anderlecht travel to Slavia Prague in the Europa League on Thursday, hoping to strengthen their chances of securing automatic qualification to the last 16.
The Belgian club have made a strong start in the competition and remain undefeated after their opening five fixtures, a run that has them currently sitting in fifth place in the standings.
Match preview
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After coming through a qualifier against Belarusian outfit Dinamo Minsk in August, Anderlecht made the perfect start to the league phase with three straight wins to begin their European campaign.
The first victory came against Ferencvaros in September, when they won 2-1 in Brussels, despite Nilson Angulo's late dismissal setting up a tense finish to the game.
That result marked the first win of David Hubert's tenure at the club, after he replaced Brian Riemer in the dugout at Lotto Park earlier that month.
Hubert's side followed up that success against Ferencvaros with further triumphs away to Real Sociedad and against Bulgarian champions Ludogorets.
Since then, they have drawn two consecutive fixtures in the competition - Latvian side RFS netted a late equaliser in Riga to earn a 1-1 draw against Les Mauve et Blanc, and an exciting clash with Porto in Brussels last month finished 2-2.
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Meanwhile, the hosts have found the group stage action far more challenging, with only four points on the board from their first five games.
Slavia got off to a flying start with a 2-0 win against Ludogorets in their opening fixture, and a 1-1 draw with Ajax left them in a healthy position after their first two matches.
Since that draw with Francesco Farioli's men at the beginning of October, the Czech side have faced a tricky run of fixtures in the Europa League, narrowly losing to Athletic Bilbao, Eintracht Frankfurt and Fenerbahce.
Those results have left Jindrich Trpisovsky's team with plenty of work to do, as they currently sit outside the playoff positions in 26th place in the Europa League table.
However, with three group games remaining, Slavia are still only one point away from Union Saint-Gilloise, who occupy the final knockout phase playoff spot in 24th place.
The hosts will look to take confidence from their league form into European action, as they currently sit 10 points clear of Viktoria Plzen in the Czech First League and remain undefeated domestically.
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Team News
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The hosts will be without goalkeeper Jindrich Stanek, who is out for the rest of the month due to a shoulder injury, while fellow goalkeeper Ondrej Kolar is ineligible for the Europa League group phase.
Similarly, midfielders Alexandr Buzek, Petr Sevcik and Lukas Masopust are unable to play due to not being registered for this stage of the competition.
In further bad news for Slavia, Tomas Vlcek and Lukas Vorlicky remain long-term absentees due to knee injuries.
Meanwhile, the visitors have injury problems of their own, with the experienced Thorgan Hazard (cruciate ligament) and Jan Vertonghen (Achilles) out for the foreseeable future.
Additionally, Killian Sardella and Southampton loanee Samuel Edozie are both nursing ankle injuries, while Majeed Ashimeru is out with a muscle problem, and Marco Kana is a doubt for this contest.
Slavia Prague possible starting lineup:
Kinsky; Boril, Ogbu, Holes; Diouf, Dorley, Zafeiris, Doudera; Pech, Chytil, Lingr
Anderlecht possible starting lineup:
Coosemans; Foket, Simic, Jorgensen, N'Diaye; Dendoncker, Stroeykens, Rits; Dreyer, Dolberg, Amuzu
We say: Slavia Prague 1-1 Anderlecht
Slavia have had some tough games in the competition and we feel that this is why they are currently so far down in the Europa League table.
Although they would love to get all three points, Anderlecht are another difficult opponent, so we think this will be a close encounter that ends in a draw.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Tom Humphrey
