Union St Gilloise welcome FK Bodø/Glimt to Brussels on Thursday evening. A few years ago, not many would have felt that a Norwegian side would have much hope against a Belgian team in Europe. However, Bodø/Glimt go into this Europa League clash arguably as favourites. The side beat Porto last time out and currently sit top of the Eliteserien by seven points. Union, on the other hand, finally ended a lengthy goal drought last week in Turkey and did manage a 3-0 win over Kortrijk at the weekend. However, they have not looked the same force from recent seasons.
Following their rise a few seasons ago, FK Bodø/Glimt saw a majority of their top talent leave for Europe. They have since rebuilt and now find a number of these players returning. The likes of Patrick Berg, Jens Petter Hauge, Håkon Evjen and Philip Zinckernagel have all returned to the club from the north of Norway. Hauge scored twice last week to help them beat Porto despite going down to 10 men. This means that Isak Dybvik Määttä is suspended for the Europa League clash.
Union should have gotten more out of their clash with Fenerbahce. They also went down to 10 men but had plenty of chances to score in the first half. They have spent the last two European campaigns playing away from Duden Park and will once again be using rivals Anderlecht’s Lotto Park stadium. The side have done well there in recent years in Europe so should not feel out of place. They will be without striker Mohamed Fuseini and defender Kevin Mac Allister who are both injured.
