Fans of draws will have been thrilled by Gameweek 1 of the 2022-23 Europa Conference League – ten of the gameweek’s sixteen fixtures ended in stalemate. Only one group (A) featured two wins, groups D and G were completely drawn and group F had the dubious honour of seeing no goals at all across either game. There are nevertheless grounds for optimism, as this leaves almost every group finely-poised heading into our second gameweek!
Early Kickoffs
Group E
Only three teams in the Dutch Eredivisie are still unbeaten; Ajax, Feyenoord and fourth-placed AZ. Alkmaar’s finest managed a narrow win over SC Dnipro-1 in their last fixture, a game that might politely be called “one for the purists”, and AZ should be confident of topping their group if they can secure another win here. Their opposition at AFAS Stadion are FC Vaduz, the Swiss second tier’s only Liechtensteiner side, whose elaborate qualification process was detailed in last week’s piece. The Liechtensteiners did not manage a shot on target in their debut game, a 0-0 draw at home to Cypriot stalwarts Apollon Limassol, but equally their goalkeeper only had to face one shot on target himself. AZ fans will be hoping that this game is a little more exciting than either of last week’s fixtures, although one suspects that Vaduz fans would bite your hand off for another goalless draw. AZ don’t seem minded to oblige them in this and an AZ win is overwhelmingly likely.
SC Dnipro-1, meanwhile, are yet to concede a goal in the revived Ukrainian Prem’yer Liha and were unfortunate to lose their “home” game against AZ (due to the ongoing Russian invasion that game was actually played in Košice, Slovakia). Apollon Limassol could really do with a win in this fixture if they want to progress from the group, but they are not of the same calibre as AZ and so the Ukrainian outfit are probably favourites for an away win. This game should, like AZ-Vaduz, at the very least be less goal-shy than last week’s efforts.
Group F
An estate agent would sell Group F by arguing that it’s basically guaranteed to improve from last week’s efforts and remains finely-poised. It says something about the quality of the on-pitch entertainment on offer last week that Group F’s standout moment was Shamrock Rovers fans chanting “Lizzie’s in a box” at home to Djurgårdens IF. Rovers’ players were not able to match their fans’ capacity for drama, however, and an admittedly even contest ended 0-0. Both sides still stand a healthy chance of advancing out of the group, although Rovers’ mettle will be tested tonight by an away trip to KAA Gent. Gent have a crucial league fixture against Genk coming up on Sunday, so it will be interesting to see how much they rotate at home. Complacency might cost them but ultimately a Gent win is the minimum the Belgian side need if they wish to take charge of this group.
The group’s other obvious frontrunner candidates are Norway’s Molde FK, who held Gent to a creditable but ultimately dull draw at home. The Norwegians then survived a late scare away to minnows FK Jerv to make it 9 league wins in a row, and should therefore be confident about their away trip across the Scandes to play Djurgårdens IF in Stockholm. Djurgårdens were more stubborn than scintillating in Dublin last time out and, given their recent coyness in front of goal, will need the same defensive solidity they displayed last week if they are to take points from the Norwegian frontrunners. Despite last week’s damp squibs, this ought to be quite a compelling fixture; both Molde and Djurgårdens really need a win if they are to advance out of the group, although a Molde win is the more likely outcome.
Group G
I anticipated that Group G would prove one of the competition’s more straightforward exercises. Happily, football is a famously fickle beast, and so two draws in gameweek 1 mean that there is still everything to play for in this group.
Slavia Praha stumbled a little against Sivasspor last time out, uncharacteristically failing to convert their near-total domination of the contest (they took 29 shots to Sivasspor’s seven) into a win despite taking a fourth-minute lead. A late penalty miss by Lukáš Provod only compounded the Czechs’ misery. They took out some of this frustration on SK Dynamo České Budějovice at the weekend, winning 6-1 to stay top of the Czech top flight, but will be out for revenge tonight at home to FC Ballkani. The Kosovar minnows suffered a heartbreaking end to an otherwise highly impressive European debut at home to Cluj, conceding an injury-time equaliser despite having dominated possession throughout the contest. Ballkani can take heart from their last outing, which constitutes a historic result even after the late gut-punch, but they will need great courage and a healthy dose of luck if they wish to avoid an away defeat to a Slavia side in imperious form.
The group’s other game sees Sivasspor Kulübü, who after ten games across four competitions are still winless this season, travel to Transylvania. CFR Cluj were, frankly, deeply unconvincing against an inferior opponent in the form of Ballkani last week, although the Romanian side deserve credit for battling until the very end. Having secured an important domestic victory over Universitatea Craiova at the weekend, Cluj both require a home win tonight and are in a good position to achieve one. Should they beat Sivasspor they will take an important step towards qualification, but any other result leaves them staring down the barrel after just two games. Such are the vagaries of group-stage football.
Group H
Two of Group H’s four participants are European debutants, although each experienced contrasting fortunes last time out. FC Pyunik Yerevan scored their first-ever European group stage goal in their debut away to FC Basel, an equaliser after 27 minutes which lent an air of potential upset to the game. Basel’s magnificently-named Dutch prospect Wouter Burger had other ideas, however, sinking the Armenian side with a brace which reflected Basel’s dominance of the competition. This week Pyunik host Slovak champions ŠK Slovan Bratislava, who arrive with European pedigree but are yet to convert that into any kind of form on the Conference League stage. Slovan, having underwhelmed last season, were held to a goalless draw at home to Lithuanian debutants FK Žalgiris last week, with a point the absolute most they deserved. They are still likely to finish second in group H, but an away trip to Armenia could pose an unexpectedly tricky assignment. I’m sticking my neck out and predicting a draw here.
FC Basel will harbour no such doubts as they step onto the pitch in Vilnius. Having risen to see off the challenge of fired-up debutants Pyunik last time out, an away win at FK Žalgiris will see them comfortably top of the group, in line with pre-season expectations. The Lithuanians performed extremely creditably to take a point in Slovakia last week, but even a vociferous home crowd is unlikely to prove enough against a Basel side who are slowly but surely turning their season around. If Žalgiris can play as well as they did last week then this might yet prove an absorbing fixture, but a comfortable Basel win seems highly likely.
Standout Early Kickoffs
Djurgårdens IF – Molde FK (Group F)
CFR Cluj – Sivasspor Kulübü (Group G)
FC Pyunik Yerevan – ŠK Slovan Bratislava (Group H)
Late Kickoffs
Group A
One of last week’s major upsets saw Latvian debutant minnows FK RFS nick an immensely creditable draw away to Italian giants ACF Fiorentina. I Viola attempted 32 shots but only one of them beat 36-year-old goalkeeper Pāvels Šteinbors, whereas Pierluigi Gollini’s concession of an improvised effort by newfound RFS hero Andrej Ilić is the latest instalment in a declining career. Having returned as heroes, RFS might now have their sights set on their first European win as they welcome Heart of Midlothian FC to Rīga. Any neutral with a, well, heart was backing Hearts to pull off a result against İstanbul Başakşehir last week, and Hearts duly repaid this faith by suffering an entirely deserved 4-0 loss at home, the heaviest loss in the competition so far. Having been given the weekend off for the same reason that Shamrock Rovers fans treated themselves to a singalong last week, Hearts have had a week to stew on last week’s misfortune. An away win in Rīga will be the minimum expectation for Hearts but, on the strength of RFS’ showing in Firenze, the Jam Tarts will need a dramatically improved performance to get one.
ACF Fiorentina, meanwhile, have not won a single game in any competition since their first-leg playoff win over FC Twente in mid-August. The Tuscans’ latest reverse saw them squander an away lead over Bologna to lose 2-1 and, having only won their opening league game, they lie firmly in midtable. They could do with more obliging opposition than İstanbul Başakşehir, who pulled off a disciplined 1-0 win over Beşiktaş on Monday, sit second in the Süper Lig with a game in hand and have only conceded two goals in all competitions all season (one in each leg of their playoff win over Royal Antwerp). I did not anticipate Fiorentina struggling to get out of this group before the Conference League kicked off, but anything other than a win in Istanbul tonight – I am in contrast predicting a home win – will mean that Fiorentina’s mid-group fixtures against Hearts take on more significance than anyone expected.
Group B
I had not anticipated West Ham United FC‘s fixture against FC FCSB being such a thriller but, after going behind, it took a display of real grit and character from West Ham to pull off their first win of the season. The raw stats suggest that the game was more of a canter for West Ham than it seemed at the time, and if they can repeat last week’s heroics away in Denmark then Hammers fans may come to look on the Conference League as a blessing which kickstarted their stalling season. Silkeborg FK, by contrast, defended manfully against RSC Anderlecht last time out but could not hold out until full-time. A late penalty from Wolves legend Fábio Silva punctured Silkeborg’s hopes of points on their European debut, and you suspect they will enjoy another tough 90 minutes this evening. A very likely West Ham win will put the Hammers within touching distance of the knockout stages and leave Silkeborg on the edge of elimination.
RSC Anderlecht, meanwhile, continue to endure a poor domestic campaign despite their winning start in the Conference League. A shock defeat to minnows Westerlo, after Anderlecht thought they had secured at least a point, leaves the purple-shirted club winless in four league games and mired in midtable. One source of consolation is that FC FCSB continue to have an even worse start to their Romanian league campaign. FCSB are (albeit with games in hand) mired firmly in a relegation scrap after the gut-punch of conceding a 97th-minute equalising penalty to minnows Voluntari on Monday, and may come into this game with something of a hangover. A likely Anderlecht win in Bucharest would blow a hole in FCSB’s season while setting Anderlecht on the way to salvaging theirs.
Group C
Having graced us with what is undoubtedly the game of the Conference League season so far, Group C is in my good books. Villarreal CF‘s pulsating 4-3 victory at home to Lech Poznań was a game for the memory, a seesawing fixture in which Villarreal went a goal down within three minutes, went in 3-1 up at half-time, were pulled back to 3-3 and then nicked a last-minute winner through Arsenal legend Francis Coquelin. Unai Emery’s Yellow Submarine are my pick to win the whole competition, and their ability to dig deep even against spirited and capable opposition potentially bodes well for their campaign. Villarreal’s luck turned through a narrow 1-0 away loss to Betis on Sunday – not that this will be of much comfort to Lech Poznań – but they have a milder assignment this week in the form of a trip to Hapoel Be’er Sheva FC. In a rare case of me calling a game correctly, the Israeli side secured a creditable point away in Vienna last week – albeit while offering very little in attack – which means that their Conference League campaign is unlikely to hinge on their results against Villarreal. This is fortunate for Hapoel, because I anticipate an emphatic Villarreal win here.
Lech Poznań, meanwhile, followed up their narrow loss in last week’s thriller with an away draw to Pogoń Szczecin courtesy of a 99th(!)-minute Pogoń penalty. I would not blame them for feeling a little hard done by from the last week, but they have an opportunity to resume their season’s revival when they welcome FK Austria Wien to Greater Poland. The Viennese side won emphatically in Hartberg over the weekend, but the Ekstraklasa is to my mind an underrated division and I back Poznań to bag their first points of the campaign with a home win here.
Group D
OGC Nice and 1. FC Köln’s draw last week offered FK Partizan the chance to open up a lead at the top of Group D, but two early Slovácko goals and a 22nd-minute red card for Kristijan Belić left the Crno-beli staring down the barrel of an upset instead. The Serb side, however, responded impressively, scoring three unanswered goals to lead 3-2 before Slovácko nicked a late equaliser. Having followed this up with a weekend thrashing of Mladost Lučani, Partizan are hauling themselves back into domestic contention, and a home fixture against an underwhelming OGC Nice side gives them a chance to score a noteworthy upset. Despite a win over bottom side Ajaccio at the weekend, Nice were not particularly impressive against Köln and have yet to get going this season. If Andy Delort, one of Nice’s few bright spots this season, can play to his best then Le Gym might get a sorely-needed win here, but I think a draw is more likely.
Meanwhile, 1. FC Slovácko followed up last week’s snatching of a draw from the jaws of a defeat snatched from the jaws of victory with their third draw in a row, and now face the daunting assignment of a trip to the Rhein to face fellow 1. FC side 1. FC Köln. Despite an unfortunate and narrow defeat to high-flyers Union Berlin over the weekend, Köln are enjoying a very solid start to their season which leaves them well-placed to repeat last campaign’s success. An away point in Nice last time out was a strong result, and a Köln win here will give them a realistic hope of topping the group.
Standout Late Kickoffs
ACF Fiorentina – İstanbul Başakşehir (Group A)
Lech Poznań – FK Austria Wien (Group C)
Partizan FK – OGC Nice (Group D)
