Preview: Genk vs Basel - prediction, team news, lineups

Separated by just one point after four Europa League league-phase outings, Genk and Basel will meet in an important contest at the Cegeka Arena on Thursday.

The two sides both won their last continental outing in early November, leaving the hosts 13th and their visitors 17th with four league-phase games remaining.

Match preview

Genk return to continental action in early November aiming to make it back-to-back Europa League victories to strengthen their hopes of progressing.

After seeing off Lech Poznan in the playoff round to get into Europe's secondary competition for the first time since the 2021-22 campaign, the Belgian outfit have managed seven points from their first four games, with only six teams conceding fewer than the four goals they have allowed.

Thorsten Fink's side began with an away victory over Rangers in September, but they were only able to follow that up with a loss to Ferencvaros and a goalless stalemate with Real Betis, before visiting Braga last time out in early November and bouncing back to winning ways in a dramatic contest.

The Belgian outfit fell 1-0 behind in that game in Portugal but eventually led 3-1 and 4-2 through Daan Heymans, Yira Sor, Oh Hyeon-gyu and Yaimar Medina before seeing out a 4-3 triumph in the dying minutes.

Now on the back of a disappointing Belgian Pro League defeat to Mechelen at the weekend, leaving them eighth in the top flight, Genk will go in search of back-to-back continental wins on Thursday with their sights set on the Europa League league phase's top eight.

Their visitors, meanwhile, head to Belgium hoping to boost their own top-eight hopes with another victory.

After dropping out of Champions League qualifying to Copenhagen, Basel entered the Europa League league phase and have experienced a mixed start, winning two and losing two of their first four games.

The first of those victories came against Stuttgart in early October, falling between losses to Freiburg and Lyon, before Ludovic Magnin's side hosted FCSB last time out and got back to winning ways, as Xherdan Shaqiri netted a brace and Ibrahim Salah added a late third in a 3-1 triumph.

The RotBlau now head back into continental action in a disappointing league run, having dropped to fourth spot in the Swiss Super League with a three-match winless run, most recently visiting strugglers Grasshopper Zurich and playing out a 1-1 draw thanks to Benie Traore's first-half equaliser.

Now sitting 17th at the halfway mark of the league phase, but only trailing eighth-placed Viktoria Plzen by two points and fourth-placed Celta Vigo by three, they can quickly improve their standing with a second straight Europa League win on Thursday.

Genk Europa League form:

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Genk form (all competitions):

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Basel Europa League form:

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Basel form (all competitions):

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Team News

Genk will remain without Zakaria El Ouahdi and Junya Ito on Thursday due to ongoing injuries, while Ibrahima Sory Bangoura was at least fit to make the bench at the weekend after his own layoff.

Hyeon-gyu Oh will continue to lead the attack, having netted a team-high tally of eight goals so far this season, including three in six Europa League matches.

Yira Sor and Daan Heymans joined him on the scoresheet in the last league-phase game and should keep their places in support, while Patrik Hrosovsky will hope to again partner mainstay Bryan Heynen at the base of the midfield.

Metinho will return to the Basel fold on Thursday after missing their league defeat at the weekend through suspension, while young midfielder Andrej Bacanin can also be called on despite being sent off in that game with his suspension carrying over to their next domestic outing.

The former may displace the 18-year-old though and rejoin Leo Leroy in the engine room, while veteran and captain Xherdan Shaqiri remains their key man going forward having netted 10 goals and contributed 10 assists in 24 appearances across all competitions this term.

Moritz Broschinski and Albian Ajeti will battle to lead the line ahead of Shaqiri, while Benie Traore and Ibrahim Salah may again complete the attack on the flanks.

Genk possible starting lineup:

Van Crombrugge; Kongolo, Sadick, Smets, Medina; Hrosovsky, Heynen; Steuckers, Heymans, Sor; Oh

Basel possible starting lineup:

Hitz; Tsunemoto, Barisic, Daniliuc, Cisse; Metinho, Leroy; Traore, Shaqiri, Salah; Broschinski

We say: Genk 1-1 Basel

With both teams relatively evenly-matched and desperate for a crucial three-point haul in their hunt for automatic round-of-16 qualification, we anticipate a tight encounter in Belgium and see a share of the spoils as the most likely outcome.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.