Simon Dalton presents his prediction for the Europa League match.
Go Ahead Eagles
In the 21st century, Go Ahead Eagles have only reached qualifying in the Europa Conference League and the Europa League once, and on each occasion the campaign ended at the first hurdle. The club did feature in a main round, but that was back in 1965/66 in the European Cup Winners’ Cup, which is ancient history. Are Go Ahead Eagles ready for their debut? They have gone straight into the league phase of the Europa League thanks to their first-ever KNVB Cup triumph. After six Eredivisie rounds they sit seventh, in the play-off places for a Europa Conference League berth. That is exactly where Go Ahead Eagles finished the previous campaign, so at the very least the squad have not regressed.
FCSB
Something puzzling is happening with FCSB. The 2025 champions of Romania cannot find a way out of their slump. The early poor results in the SuperLiga could have been attributed to a focus on Champions League qualifying, but FCSB failed to clear KF Shkëndija (0:1, 1:2), who were clear underdogs. They did survive two further Europa League qualifying rounds, but in the domestic league there is already an eight-match winless run with only three points collected. It is no surprise that FCSB sit 13th and risk missing the championship group. A third of the campaign has already gone, and the demands of competing on two fronts will persist.
Go Ahead Eagles vs FCSB Prediction
FCSB’s success against Aberdeen in the play-off round does not convince us that the team will last the full 90 here. Even away they managed only a draw (2:2). We are almost certain of a Go Ahead Eagles win, but we will play it safe and take draw no bet.
