Top Two Meet in Kazakhstan
The 2018/19 UEFA Europa League has reached the business end of the group stage and teams know what they must do in order to qualify for the knockout stages of the competition.
Europa League Group K has two leaders with 8 points from four games and Astana and Dynamo Kiev meet on Thursday night in Kazakhstan knowing a win will seal their place in the next stage of the tournament.
This has the makings of a very exciting match as both teams know what is at stake. If the other game in the group ends in a draw, then a draw for Astana and Dynamo Kiev will be enough to take them through but they cannot afford to approach the game in that manner.
The Astana fans will be in a celebratory mood having finished the domestic season with a win and another league title. However, they will want their season to continue with European football and they are in great form at home.
Trends show Astana have remained undefeated in their last nine home games in all competitions have lost only once in their last twenty-four matches on home soil. They have won each of their two home games in this group, defeating Rennes 2-0 and Jabolnec 2-1. Astana have lost just two of their last eleven home Europa League games and are a difficult team to beat in-front of their own fans.
Dynamo Kiev fell further behind in their pursuit of the Ukraine Premier League title following a 2-1 defeat at Oleksandria on the weekend. They are now 9 points behind Shakhtar Donetsk with sixteen games played.
However, trends show Dynamo Kiev are not easy to beat and they have lost only three of their last fifteen games in all competitions. All three of those defeats have come in the domestic league and Dynamo Kiev are unbeaten in the Europa League this season. They have picked up 4 points away from home in the group, defeating Rennes 2-1 in France and picking up a point at Jabolnec.
Dynamo Kiev have lost just one of their last nine away matches in the Europa League and have found the back of the net twice in five of their last six away games in the competition.
Looking ahead to the team news and Astana have no injury or suspension worries ahead of this game and will be at full strength.
Dynamo Kiev could be without Artem Besyedin who is trying to recover from an Achilles injury but he is the only doubt for the away team.
This could be a very entertaining game, with both teams knowing a win will take them through. The first match in the group between them ended in a 2-2 draw and it would not be a surprise to see a similar outcome in this game.
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