EUROPA LEAGUE PREVIEW: SKN St. Pölten vs. PSV |

THURSDAY 7TH AUGUST

EUROPA LEAGUE – THIRD ROUND QUALIFYING – SECOND LEG

SKN ST. PÖLTEN vs. PSV (18:00 BST)

After Thursday PSV will have qualified for the fourth qualifying round Europa League competition. However, it will not be as easy as many would have thought it would. Lawk Raoof suggests you read this preview to know why it won’t be easy to win.

PSV won the first game home with a marginal 1-0 against Austria newcomer Sportklub Niederösterreich St. Pölten. After a goal from Luuk de Jong who has immediately re-paid some of his summer transfer fee with a crucial goal. However, the Austrians have proven themselves to be physical strong and well-organised and ff there is something that PSV lacks is to play good against well-organized teams, especially without World Cup stars Georginio Wijnaldum & Memphis Depay. This explains the minimal 1-0 win but don’t worry these key-players have had one week of training and will highly likely be deployed as substitutes during the game to pull the game in favor of PSV.

With St. Pölten having 8,000 supporters backing them up and having the home-advantage, I can see PSV winning the game with only a 2-1 scoreline. For some people this is no disappointing outcome, however PSV is a top team and should walk all over the Austrians with at least four or five goals. However, missing key-players in every line it is obvious that Philip Cocu needs to pull everything out of the closet to make this win.

The most likely formation is: Zoet (GK), Tamata (LB), Hendrix (CB), Bruma (CB), Brenet (RB), Hiljemark (CDM), Wijnaldum (CDM), Maher (AM), Locadia (LF), De Jong (CF), Narsingh (RF)

I recommend placing a small stake at Bet Victor on PSV to win 2-1 at 15/2. Cocu’s men will explode out of the blocks and hit a wall like they did in the first game. However, considering the World Cup players are back and Depay and Santiago Arias can be used as aces when it turns bad Cocu should win this game.

BEST BET: PSV to win 2-1 (15/2 – Bet Victor)