Young Boys vs Astana – Thursday 18:00 GMT/19:00 CET Stade de Suisse in Berne.
Young Boys vs Astana will take place at the Stade de Suisse – Image by Martin Abegglen CC-BY-SA-2.0
Both teams have already been eliminated from the group stage of the UEFA Europa League, as both clubs sit on five points. Olympiacos has eight points, but holds the tiebreaker against both Young Boys and Astana, and are, therefore, qualified no matter what the results on matchday 6.
Young Boys could, therefore, rest many of their first team players in order to focus on the Raiffeisen Super League. But, with many injuries in the squad, do not be surprised if the starting eleven is similar to the one we saw beat FC Basel 3-1 on the weekend.
Astana, on the other hand, secured their third successive Kazakh title on October 26 and, with the Kazakh Premier League running from Spring to Fall within the calendar year, Astana will not be in a competitive game until the spring.
Young Boys vs Astana – Players to look out for:
Nemanja Maksimović is the side’s biggest star. The Serbian midfielder was a key player in Serbia’s U-20 World Cup success in 2015. Now 21-years-old, Maksimović could very well be on the move during the winter transfer window, as he seems to have outgrown both the Kazakh Premier League and Astana in particular.
Young Boys vs Astana– Match Stats
- Young Boys have lost five of their last seven European home fixtures.
- Astana are without a win in 12 UEFA away games (D5 L7) since a 3-0 success at AIK Solna in August 2014.
- Young Boy’s elimination this season means they have only progressed in two of their four UEFA Europa League group stage campaigns.
- Astana are making their UEFA Europa League group stage debut, after having participated in the UEFA Champions League group stage last season.
- The journey from Astana to Berne is 4,550km.
Futbolgrad’s Prediction: Young Boys vs Astana 2-0
Young Boys vs Astana – Possible Lineups
Young Boys
Formation: 4-2-3-1
Mvogo – Lecjaks, Benito, von Bergen, Sutter – Aebischer, Nuhu – Sulejmani, Bertone, Schick – Hoarau
Manager: Adi Hütter
Astana
Formation: 3-5-2
Eric – Logvinenko, Anicic, Shitov – Shomko, Cañas, Muzhikov, Maksimović, Beysebekov – Kabananga, Despotović
Manager: Stanimir Stoilov
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