Gent have been in fine form in this competition until now and they face a Bordeaux side who have recently run into some crisis that could spoil the hard work they have done until now. After beating Mariupol last week to reach this round Bordeaux fired Gus Poyet after he openly criticised the club’s decision to sell striker Gaetan Laborde against his will. He had told them to only sell when they have replaced him, but the club did not heed his advice and the Uruguayan branded their action a disgrace. The club’s president thought he went too far and decided to fire him to show him who the boss was. This situation would certainly affect their players when they take to the team for this game and that would give Gent an advantage which they should take in this first leg. Gent come into this game in fine form having won their last four games and they would be looking for a fifth consecutive win against this French visitors who struggled without their manager in their last game against Toulouse. Gent haven’t lost any of their last six home games and they have scored 11 goals in their last four games so they have both form and momentum on their side ahead of this game. This is the first meeting between these teams.

Besiktas have begun their league campaign with two wins from as many games and they would be looking to get through to the Europa League group stage in this game as well. The Turks competed in the Champions League last season and they were impressive, whether they can eliminate Partizan Belgrade would depend largely on how they perform in this first leg away from home. Partizan would be keen to get a good first-leg advantage at home here so they can stop Besiktas. They have shown that they are not a team that seats back and defend after winning both legs against Nodjelland in the last round. They have collected 7 points from four games in their domestic league this season. Besiktas are hoping to win back their league crown at the end of this season and they have started well. They reached the Europa League quarterfinals in 2017 and topped their Champions League group last season before exiting at the Round of 16, so reaching the group stage is the only thinkable outcome from this round for their fans. Besiktas won 2-1 in their last meeting with Partizan, however, that was about four years ago and they may be facing a stronger team this time around.

These two teams started their domestic campaign with different degrees of success and this match offers them both a chance to get early bragging rights over the other in the London Derby. Chelsea beat Huddersfield 3-0 at the John Smith Stadium last weekend, while Arsenal were beaten 2-0 at home by Manchester City. Chelsea players showed in their win over the Terriers that they have begun taking in the lessons of Maurizio Sarri, while Arsenal struggled to show that there has been any improvement in their play under Unai Emery. The Gunners wanted to play from the back as Emery’s teams always do, but they were always caught in possession by Manchester City who pressed them relentlessly to the point that Petr Cech almost scored himself by passing the ball straight into his own net. Chelsea would be welcoming Eden Hazard for this game, and the Belgian who gave an assist for the 3rd goal last weekend comes with extra goals threat in him. Arsenal’s defensive issues has not been helped by news that Maitland-Niles is set to be sidelined for the next two months, that leaves Emery with no recognized left fullback at the moment. Five of the last six meetings between these sides have ended in draws, with Arsenal winning the remaining one game. However, The Gunners have failed to score in four of their last five Premier League visits to Stamford Bridge, with Chelsea winning four of these five encounters as well.