Sports Mole previews Thursday’s Europa League clash between Basel and FCSB, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.
Basel will be aiming to move into safer territory in the Europa League league-phase standings as they welcome FCSB to St. Jakob-Park on Thursday for matchday four action.
The Swiss side sit in the final playoff spot with three points from their opening three fixtures, while the visitors are four places lower due to an inferior goal difference.
Match preview
After an inconsistent start to their Europa campaign with one win and two defeats in their opening three games, Basel will at least look to keep the pattern going this round, having alternated between those results so far.
Absent from the European main stage last term, Bebbi began this campaign with a 2-1 defeat at Freiburg before claiming a 2-0 victory against Stuttgart, while a 2-0 loss at Lyon on matchday three reflected a side still struggling on their continental travels.
Back on familiar turf, Ludovic Magnin’s men will be optimistic of making home advantage count once again, having won each of their last three games – across the league and domestic cup – in front of their supporters, netting seven times and keeping clean sheets in all.
However, Bebbi come up against an opponent they have never beaten in a competitive fixture, with both previous encounters in the 2013 Champions League ending in 1-1 scorelines.
Speaking of stalemates, Basel were held to a frustrating goalless draw by 10-man Young Boys in the Swiss top flight at the weekend, leaving Magnin’s side six points off the summit in second place with just one victory in four outings across all competitions going into Thursday’s clash.
In contrast, the visitors have enjoyed a steady run of results, with a 2-0 league triumph away to Universitatea Cluj marking a third straight win, scoring seven goals in that spell while conceding just once.
Manager Elias Charalambous will now look to carry that fine domestic spell into the Europa after back-to-back defeats in the competition; FCSB suffered a 2-0 setback to Young Boys before a 2-1 home loss to Bologna in round three of the league phase.
Interestingly, the Red and Blues have found greater success away from home on the continental front, with their 1-0 victory over Go Ahead Eagles on matchday one marking a third consecutive unbeaten away outing in Europe (W2, D1).
A 3-1 win at Dritta and a 2-2 draw at Aberdeen in the qualifying rounds preceded that opening success, a run that helped FCSB reach the main stage for a second successive campaign, and like in 2024-25, the Romanian outfit are again pushing for a place in the knockout phase after last season’s round-of-16 finish.
Basel Europa League form:
Basel form (all competitions):
FCSB Europa League form:
FCSB form (all competitions):
Team News
Apart from a muscle injury to right-back Keigo Tsunemoto, Basel have no other fitness concerns, giving the manager a full squad to select from.
The back four of Dominik Schmid, Flavius Daniliuc, Adrian Leon Barisic and Nicolas Vouilloz that kept a clean sheet in Bern could be retained, though a few changes in attack would not be a surprise.
Marin Soticek could be handed a start on the right flank, meaning Benie Traore may drop to the bench, while captain Xherdan Shaqiri is almost certain to start once again.
The former Liverpool midfielder has been directly involved in 16 goals for Basel this season (G8, A8), with his only contribution in Europa being a strike against Stuttgart on matchday two.
Bebbi’s other two European goals were netted by Albian Ajeti and Philip Otele, both of whom are expected to start in the centre-forward and left-wing roles respectively.
For the visitors, centre-back Mihai Popescu remains a long-term absentee with a knee injury, while Ionut Cercel is ineligible for the league phase.
Mihai Lixandru could therefore continue at the heart of defence as in the previous round, though Daniel Graovac is another natural option to partner Siyabonga Ngezana.
Valentin Cretu is still sidelined with a metatarsal issue, meaning Alexandru Pantea is expected to keep th right-back position once again.
Attacker Darius Olaru will be full of confidence heading into this fixture after scoring twice to help FCSB to maximum points in their recent league outing.
Basel possible starting lineup:
Hitz; Vouilloz, Barisic, Daniliuc, Schmid; Metinho, Leroy; Soticek, Shaqiri, Otele; Ajeti
FCSB possible starting lineup:
Tarnovanu; Pantea, Ngezana, Lixandru, Radunovic; Alhassan, Sut; Cisotti, Tanase, Olaru; Birligea
We say: Basel 1-1 FCSB
Basel’s home victory against Stuttgart is one of just three wins in their last nine European fixtures (D3, L3), and that inconsistency could again play a role here, so we could see another one all draw like in the previous two competitive meetings.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
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