Preview: Union SG vs. Malmo - prediction, team news, lineups

The hosts triumphed over Union Berlin in their curtain-raiser while the Swedish outfit fell to a defeat at the hands of Braga.

Match preview

A second-placed finish in the Belgian top flight last season earned Union-Saint Gilloise guaranteed European group-stage football, and they met Scottish giants Rangers in the third round of Champions League qualifying and took a 2-0 lead into the away leg thanks to goals from Teddy Teuma and Dante Vanzeir.

That lead would be overturned at Ibrox, though, as their opponents progressed with a 3-0 victory on the night, with the decisive goal coming through Malik Tillman in the 78th minute after James Tavernier and Antonio Colak had drawn the Gers level.

Such a defeat saw Les Unionistes drop into the Europa League group stage and they began with a trip to Germany to take on Union Berlin last weekend, eventually prevailing as they held on for a 1-0 victory after Senne Lynen's 39th-minute goal.

On the back of that opening triumph, Karel Geraerts's side hosted Genk in the eighth round of Belgian top-flight fixtures last time out, but they were unable to take anything from the game despite being level at 1-1 heading into injury time, as Mbwana Samatta snatched all three points for the visitors in the 92nd minute, sending Union SG down to seventh spot as a result.

Les Unionistes will now hope to bounce back from that defeat and further strengthen their position at the top of the group by making it two wins from two Europa League games on Thursday.

Their visitors, meanwhile, will make the trip hoping to put their first points on the board, as their group campaign started with a defeat after fighting through qualifying.

After winning the Swedish Allsvenskan title for the 22nd time in their history last season, Malmo entered Champions League qualifying in the first round and scraped past Vikingur Reykjavik before losing 3-0 at the hands of Zalgiris and dropping into the third round of Europa League qualifying.

Di Blae would then book their place in the playoff round with a 5-2 aggregate win over Diddeleng and confirmed a spot in the group stage thanks to a 5-1 beating of Turkish outfit Sivasspor, as Moustafa Zeidan, Anders Christiansen and Niklas Moisander got on the scoresheet in a 3-1 home victory before Veljko Birmancevic and Isaac Kiese Thelin wrapped up the result on their travels.

Age Hareide's men would start their bid to reach the knockout stage with a tough test at home to Braga last week, and they eventually fell short as Bruno Rodrigues and Ricardo Horta fired their visitors to a two-goal lead.

Now on the back of a 2-1 win over IFK Norrkoping to climb to fifth in what has been an underwhelming domestic campaign by their own standards, Malmo will look to bounce back from last Thursday's defeat and put a first victory on the board to move level with their opponents after two outings.

Union SG Europa League form:

Union SG form (all competitions):

Malmo Europa League form:

Malmo form (all competitions):

Team News

Union SG are yet to find a regular goalscorer so far this season, but Victor Boniface should continue to lead the line following his recent arrival from Bodo/Glimt.

Teddy Teuma leads the way with four goals, and he will continue to offer support to the attack with Dante Vanzeir expected to join Boniface up front.

Following an impressive clean sheet in their win at Union Berlin, Les Unionistes should leave their defence unchanged with Siebe Van der Heyden, Christian Burgess and Ismael Kandouss bound to again form the back three.

Malmo's attack will be spearheaded by Isaac Kiese Thelin, who found the net twice in European qualifying and took his tally to 10 Allsvenskan goals for the season in the win over Norrkoping last time out.

Following the exit of dangerous winger Veljko Birmancevic, who hit four goals in seven continental appearances this term, Jo Inge Berget will again be relied on to provide attacking support, while veteran Ola Toivonen could also be brought in to offer further threat.

They should set up in a similar shape to their hosts, with Lasse Nielsen, Dennis Hadzikadunic and Niklas Moisander set to line up in a back three.

Union SG possible starting lineup:

Moris; Kandouss, Burgess, Van Der Heyden; Nieuwkoop, Lynen, Rodriguez, Teuma, Lapoussin; Boniface, Vanzeir

Malmo possible starting lineup:

Diawara; Nielsen, Hadzikadunic, Moisander; Beijmo, Lewicki, Christiansen, Olsson; Berget, Thelin, Toivonen

We say: Union SG 2-1 Malmo

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