Zorya welcomes Espanyol

Zorya welcomes Espanyol in a second leg from the Europa League playoffs at the Slavutych-Arena in the Ukrainian city of Zaporozhye. Let’s take a look in our Europa League predictions.

Just as most of us expected, the Spanish team took advantage in the first leg in Barcelona. Los Pericos won the game with 3-1, which is giving them a solid advantage before the second leg. Vladyslav Kochergin opened the score for Zorya at the RCDE Stadium, but in the second half the Catalans turned it around. Facundo Ferreyra equalised, while Javi Lopez and Matias Vargas clinched the win for David Gallego’s team.

At this moment Zorya are aware that a 2-0 win against Espanyol would send them to the group stage, but it’s easier to be said than being done. For the Ukrainian team this loss in the first leg is complicating their task a lot.

During the weekend Espanyol won a first point in La Liga for the season. Los Pericos visited Deportivo Alaves, but the game ended without any goals scored 0-0.

In the same time Zorya achieved a win in their last game in the Ukrainian Premier League. Viktor Skripnik’s boys visited Karpaty in a match from the fifth round and achieved a 1-0 win. Pylyp Budkivskyi scored the only goal in the game soon after the start of the second half.

There’s no need to deny it – in football everything is possible, but Zorya are a huge underdog here. The Ukrainian side conceded a big loss in the first game in Barcelona, although they still have chances to progress. If they play the perfect game, they could advance.

That’s our Europa League predictions for the playoff second leg between Zorya and Espanyol on Thursday. The Catalans are touching the group stage, but they need to make a final push.