Sports Mole previews Thursday’s Europa League clash between Bodo/Glimt and FC Twente, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.
Bodo/Glimt welcome FC Twente back to Norway on Thursday after a dramatic first leg in their Europa League knockout playoff tie last week.
Kjetil Knutsen was unfortunate to end up on the losing side after his Bodo/Glimt team conceded from a late penalty which saw Joseph Oosting‘s men take a narrow advantage into this return leg in the Arctic Circle.
Match preview
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Based purely off form from the league phase, Bodo/Glimt should have been favourites for this tie, given that they finished up in ninth, just one place off the last 16 places, missing out on goal difference.
In comparison, Twente snuck in on goal difference down in 23rd, but were, and remain, favourites to reach the last 16 in this one, despite the potentially treacherous trek to the Arctic Circle.
Despite not playing any domestic football, Bodo/Glimt are still performing stoically, and there was certainly no rust in the legs last week as they went toe-to-toe with the Dutch side in Enschede.
The Eliteserien champions are rarely the best travellers in Europe, but it looked as though they were going to take a draw from their trip to the Netherlands after Patrick Berg‘s 85th-minute strike levelled up the scores.
However, an unfortunate handball handed Ricky van Wolfswinkel the chance five minutes into added time to put Twente ahead again, and he duly obliged.
The tie is far from over though, especially when Bodo/Glimt’s home form in Europe is taken into account, with 25 wins from their last 31 games on the artificial pitch at Aspmyra, scoring an average of 2.6 goals-per-game.
Replicating that would give them a great chance of progressing, but they also ship a fair few goals too, with their last eight home matches in all competitions producing 35 goals, 13 of which have gone in at the wrong end.
While recent friendlies have been useful in keeping the squad fit, they have done little to provide confidence, or defensive stability for that matter, as Bodo/Glimt have lost all three against Fortuna Dusseldorf, Sparta Prague and Aalborg, conceding 11 goals in the process.
They will need to rectify those defensive woes if they are to win a European knockout tie after losing the first leg for the first time, and progress to a maiden last-16 Europa League tie.
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While Bodo/Glimt can make club history, Twente are looking to rediscover past form on the continent not seen in over a decade.
The Eredivisie side have not reached the last 16 of the Europa League since 2012, in what is their first season in a UEFA competition proper since 2013.
One positive omen ahead of this tie for the visitors is that they have never lost in Norway, winning on their first two trips before a 0-0 draw with Konsvinger in the 1998 Intertoto Cup.
That may mean very little in terms of form ahead of this one, but Twente are unbeaten in six matches, a run which began with a 3-2 win away at Malmo in this competition.
Twente have not won back-to-back away matches in Europe since the 1977-78 season, but one of the wins during that run came in Norway against Brann, and after the 2-1 win last week, followed by a 2-0 success over Waalwijk on Sunday, the visitors will travel with confidence.
Bodo/Glimt Europa League form:
Bodo/Glimt form (all competitions):
FC Twente Europa League form:
FC Twente form (all competitions):
Team News
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There are no new updates in terms of availability for the hosts with Gaute Vetti, Syver Skeide and Daniel Bassi still sidelined for Bodo/Glimt.
Ole Blomberg, a £1m signing from Brann in January, played six Conference League qualifiers earlier in the campaign, and made his Europa League debut in the first leg, playing the full 90 minutes.
Sam Lammers was back in the Twente squad after injury in the first leg, but only got his first minutes at the weekend, scoring in the win over Waalwijk.
Oosting picked a strong XI for that game, but Van Wolfswinkel should still come back in up front, after his second goal of the Europa League campaign – his highest since a breakout season with Sporting Lisbon 13 years ago, which ultimately earned him an ill-fated move to Norwich City.
There is just one absentee for Twente, and that is Moroccan Younes Taha, who is out long term with a broken leg.
Bodo/Glimt possible starting lineup:
Haikin; Sjovold, Nielsen, Gundersen, Bjorkan; Evjen, Berg, Saltnes; Blomberg, Hogh, Hauge
FC Twente possible starting lineup:
Unnerstall; Van Rooij, Hilgers, Lagerbielke, Kuipers; Vlap, Sadilek, Steijn; Lammers, Van Wolfswinkel, Ltaief
We say: Bodo/Glimt 2-2 FC Twente
Bodo/Glimt may be formidable at home in Europe, but they were beaten at the same stage in the Conference League last season by Dutch opponents in the form of Ajax after losing 2-1 in the first leg, and that step up in quality could prove too much for them.
Only Ajax and PSV Eindhoven have scored more than Twente’s 46 in the Eredivisie this season, showing what the visitors are capable of in attack, and they will most likely need to score at least once to have a chance of progressing.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
