The Vasil Levski National Stadium will host Thursday’s Europa League clash between Bulgarian champions Levski Sofia and Polish outfit Jagiellonia Bialystok.

Both sides head into the encounter in good recent form, but a victory would provide a significant boost to their hopes of reaching the knockout stage.

Match preview

Julio Velazquez is approaching his second anniversary at Levski Sofia, and the Spanish coach continues to impress since taking charge of the Bulgarian giants.

Levski are currently on a six-match unbeaten run across all competitions, winning four of those matches and scoring nine goals along the way.

Their last defeat came against Red Bull Salzburg in their Europa League opener, with the Bulgarian champions suffering a 1-0 loss in a game where they failed to register a single shot on target.

Remarkably, that was also their last outing on home turf, with Velazquez and his men embarking on a run of six consecutive away matches.

Even then, it was not their usual home ground, as Levski have been forced to relocate from the Georgi Asparuhov Stadium to the Vasil Levski National Stadium for their European fixtures.

Nevertheless, the Bulgarian champions will now be hoping to take another step towards reaching the knockout stage of a European competition for the first time since their memorable 2005-06 UEFA Cup campaign, when they reached the quarter-finals.

Jagiellonia Bialystok enter Thursday’s game on the back of a three-match winning run – a run which has brought some much-needed relief and stability for head coach Adrian Siemieniec.

September and October turned out to be challenging months, with Jaga enduring a run of seven defeats from nine games at one point.

Off the pitch, the club was also embroiled in major controversy after Siemieniec received a six-match ban and a €20,000 fine for contacting a match official ahead of the penultimate game of last season.

However, two Ekstraklasa wins and a 6-0 thrashing of Lechia Gdansk in the Polish Cup have lately boosted spirits in Bialystok, as the club look to make serious progress in Europe.

As things stand, Jaga remain just outside the top 24 in the Europa League after collecting three points from their opening three games.

Their 3-1 victory over Ararat-Armenia was sandwiched between a 2-1 defeat to Olympiacos and a painful 3-0 thrashing at the hands of Anderlecht a fortnight ago.

Jagiellonia will now hope to strengthen their hopes of reaching the knockout stage when they face Bulgarian opposition for the first time in their history.

Levski Sofia Europa League form:

Levski Sofia form (all competitions):

Jagiellonia Bialystok Europa League form:

Jagiellonia Bialystok form (all competitions):

Team News

Brazilian forward Reinaldo will be Levski Sofia’s main goalscoring threat on Thursday, having registered two goals and an assist across his last two Europa League outings.

Fellow countryman Everton Bala also scored on his last appearance in Europe and is expected to start on Thursday. 

The hosts will be without young midfielder Asen Mitkov, who has not featured since picking up an injury while on international duty.

Experienced forward Radoslav Kirilov is also out of action, having yet to make an appearance this season due to a knee injury.

Jagiellonia Bialystok, meanwhile, will be missing Norbert Wojtuszek, who has not made a single appearance since returning from international duty with an injury.

Star midfielder Jesus Imaz has scored in successive games, and he is fully expected to start on Thursday night.

Forward Nik Prelec has also found the net in consecutive matches and will be looking to continue his impressive start to life in Bialystok, having already contributed to nine goals this season.

Levski Sofia possible starting lineup:

Vutsov; Maicon, Makoun, Dimitrov, Neves; Everton Bala, Moubarik, Grujic, Soula; Reinaldo, Serginho

Jagiellonia Bialystok possible starting lineup:

Abramowicz; Montoia, Kobayashi, Vital, Conceicao; Lozano, Klynge, Imaz; Szmyt, Prelec, Sow

We say: Levski Sofia 2-2 Jagiellonia Bialystok

Both teams have got momentum after picking up positive results in recent times, and both will fancy their chances here.

Jagiellonia have scored nine goals across their last two away matches, and they have enough quality to cause Levski problems. Nevertheless, we are predicting a close encounter and backing a high-scoring draw. 

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