The Europa League and Europa Conference League returns this evening where six British teams are in action and five of them feature in our Thursday night five-fold which covers the 5.45pm and 8pm fixtures.
Liverpool and West Ham are bidding to back up matchday one Europa League wins while the pick of the matches comes from France, where Brighton visit Marseille.
Recommended five-fold: Aris Limassol v Rangers BTTS, West Ham to win, Marseille v Brighton BTTS, Liverpool v Union Saint-Gilloise BTTS and Aberdeen to win.
- Aris Limassol v Rangers both teams to score
- West Ham to win at Freiburg
- Marseille v Brighton both teams to score
- Liverpool v Union Saint-Gilloise both teams to score
- Aberdeen to beat HJK Helsinki
Aris Limassol vs Rangers
Rangers sacked Michael Beale in the wake of Saturday's 3-1 home defeat to Aberdeen and while the odds suggest the Gers should bounce back in this Europa League clash with Cypriot outfit Aris Limassol, a bet on both teams to score looks the safer option.
Having opened up with a 1-0 home win over Real Betis, Rangers are in a strong position in the early stages in Group C, but they have been far from airtight at the back in Europe this season, shipping against Servette in a 1-1 draw in Champions League qualification before a 5-1 loss at PSV Eindhoven saw them relegated to the Europa League.
Caretaker boss Steven Davis takes charge in Cyprus and while he might well choose to concentrate on a rearguard action, the temptation to chase another European victory could also be too strong for him to resist.
If Rangers do decide to play on the front foot, that brings both teams to score into play. Aris showed an appetite for goals in a 6-2 qualifying win over Slovan Bratislava before beginning the group-stage campaign with a 3-2 away defeat to Sparta Prague.
SC Freiburg vs West Ham
West Ham won the Europa Conference League last season and the Hammers began their 2023-24 Europa League campaign with a comfortable 3-1 victory over Serbian outfit Backa Topola.
While that was a positive start, David Moyes's men were always likely to claim three points in that clash and life gets tougher this week as they head to Germany to take on a Freiburg side who opened up with victory over Olympiakos.
The hosts beat Augsburg 2-0 in the Bundesliga at the weekend but they have struggled defensively this season, conceding five goals in a rout away at Stuttgart and letting in four in a home loss to Dortmund, so there are clearly areas at the back for the Hammers to exploit.
The London club have a superb European record under Moyes, winning 15 of their last 16 matches in continental action, and they have been playing well on the domestic front as well, claiming four wins from seven Premier League matches with their only defeats coming against Manchester City and Liverpool.
Freiburg will offer a sterner test of the Hammers' credentials but it's one which they can pass with flying colours.
Marseille vs Brighton
For all the praise which has been heaped on them, it's been a tough few weeks for Brighton, who suffered a 3-2 loss to AEK Athens in their Europa League opener and travel to France to take on Marseille on the back of successive Premier League defeats.
The Seagulls dominated the ball against AEK and deserved more from that contest, but Saturday's 6-1 hammering against Aston Villa will be fresh in their minds and that's far from ideal ahead of this trip to a hostile Stade Velodrome.
However, Marseille are not in great form either, failing to win any of their last five matches, but they did demonstrate their attacking prowess when playing out a lively 3-3 draw with Ajax on matchday one.
With both teams lacking confidence, picking a winner is tough, but goals should be on the cards and both teams to score, which has landed in each of Brighton's seven Premier League matches this season, looks a likely outcome.
Liverpool vs Union Saint-Gilloise
Liverpool felt justifiably hard done by after a VAR error cost them a goal and potentially a positive result in the 2-1 defeat at Tottenham on Saturday and a reaction can be expected from the Reds, who should expect to ease past Belgian outfit Union Saint-Gilloise.
USG lead the way in their domestic competition but a meeting with Premier League opposition of the highest calibre is a significant step up in grade, particularly so when Jurgen Klopp's men will be playing with a point to prove.
Expect Liverpool to cut loose at Anfield in a game where their visitors could well be in the firing line but still might be able to come away from Merseyside with a consolation goal.
Liverpool were on a seven-match winning run in all competitions prior to the loss at Spurs but the Reds had conceded in six of those contests so a clean sheet is not guaranteed, particularly if Klopp decides to rotate his backline.
Aberdeen vs HJK
Aberdeen put an end to Michael Beale's tenure as Rangers boss with Saturday's 3-1 win, taking their winning run to three on the spin after a poor start to the season which saw them drop down from the Europa League to the Conference League.
The Dons fell to a 2-1 defeat away to Eintracht Frankfurt on matchday one but that was a promising performance from Barry Robson's team and one which has arguably helped to fuel a run of positive results for the Pittodrie boys.
Aberdeen welcome HJK Helsinki to the Granite City on Thursday evening and should be able to earn three points over the Finnish club, who are going great guns in the Veikkausliiga this season but slumped to an opening Conference League loss against PAOK Salonika.
The hosts have scored nine goals in their last three games in all competition and should justify short odds to kick-start their group-stage campaign.
