Preview:Sturm Graz vs. Feyenoord - prediction, team news, lineups

Looking to take a giant step towards progressing into the knockout phase of the Europa League, Sturm Graz and Feyenoord go head-to-head at the Merkur-Arena on Thursday.

The teams are currently tied on five points heading into their penultimate group-stage encounter which has all the makings of an absorbing affair.

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Match preview

Feyenoord were denied maximum points by Midtjylland for the second game running as the teams played out a 2-2 stalemate at De Kuip two Thursdays ago.

Arne Slot's men went behind to Emiliano Martinez's opener but managed to turn the match on its head thanks to strikes in either half from Quinten Timber and David Hancko, only for Erik Sviatchenko to restore parity just shy of the hour mark.

Since then, De Stadionclub have taken four points from a possible six domestically and currently occupy third place in the Eredivisie standings.

With no league involvement on the horizon until the conclusion of their European group-stage campaign, Feyenoord set out to build upon their emphatic 6-0 victory against Sturm Graz on matchday two.

Thursday's visitors, who recently ended a streak of four straight away games without a victory, will go in search of consecutive wins on enemy territory for the first time since early September.

Sturm Graz extended their unbeaten run across all competitions to nine matches by holding Salzburg to a goalless stalemate at the Red Bull Arena on Saturday.

Christian Ilzer's men had their backs against the wall for the majority of the contest but they held firm to secure an impressive point against the reigning Austrian champions.

Die Schwoazn, whose last defeat came against Feyenoord, will be aiming to exact revenge on their Dutch counterparts and set one foot in the next round of Europe's secondary club tournament.

Having failed to lose any of their most recent eight matches on home turf, Thursday's hosts now prepare for what is arguably their biggest assignment of the season to date.

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Team News

Oussama Idrissi remains ruled out of action for Feyenoord due to a muscle problem, and the 26-year-old is not expected to be available for Thursday's clash.

Alireza Jahanbakhsh was at the double for the away side in the reverse fixture, making him one to keep an eye on here with the Iranian in line to return to the starting XI.

Sturm Graz's Vesel Demaku is without an appearance since September as the midfielder continues to battle with a shoulder injury which he picked up in preseason.

William Boving has scored two of his side's three goals in this season's Europa League and he will be aiming to deliver the goods once again.

Sturm Graz possible starting lineup:

Siebenhandl; Dante, Wuthrich, Affengruber, Gazibegovic; Prass, Stankovic, Hierlander; Horvat, Boving, Emegha

Feyenoord possible starting lineup:

Bijlow; Hancko, Rasmussen, Trauner, Pedersen; Kokcu, Timber, Geertruida; Szymanski, Danilo, Jahanbakhsh

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We say: Sturm Graz 1-2 Feyenoord

Both teams are expected to be fully up for this one, so we are anticipating a keenly-contested and end to end affair. That said, we just about fancy the visitors to see off the threat of their hosts and emerge victorious in the end.

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