Young Boys vs Anderlecht Match Analysis and Prediction

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Anderlcht make a trip to Switzerland to take on Young Boys in the first leg of their Europa Conference League playoff tie on Thursday.

The hosts progressed through two qualifying rounds to reach this stage, while the visitors entered a round later and brushed aside Paide, with a place in the group stage now on the line.

Young Boys entered Europa Conference League qualification this year after a third-placed finish in the Swiss Super League last season, as they also featured in the Champions League group stage.

They kicked off their continental campaign with a 2-1 home victory over Manchester United but failed to win another of their remaining five matches, dropping out of the group stage as a result, and they will now battle for a spot in Europe’s third competition for the new season.

Young Boys’ qualifying campaign began in the second round with a 4-0 aggregate win over Leipaja, before they saw off KuPS most recently, firstly winning 2-0 in the away leg before a Jean-Pierre Nsame brace and a Vincent Sierro goal fired them to a 3-0 victory at home.

They play host to an Anderlecht side looking to go further in the Conference League than they did last year, having lost at this stage to Vitesse in qualifying for the inaugural competition.

Now under the management of Felice Mazzu, they began their continental campaign with a clash with Paide, and after a 2-0 away win, they confirmed their progression with a 3-0 victory on home soil with Fabio Silva on the scoresheet alongside a Michaek Murillo brace.

The Purple & White now head into Switzerland off the back of four consecutive wins across all competitions, having followed up their second-leg victory with a 3-0 league victory away at Sint-Truiden on Sunday, moving onto nine points from their opening four domestic games.

Young Boys vs Anderlecht head to head

The two teams have not previously met in any competition and this will be their first meeting in the first leg of their Europa Conference League qualifying playoff-round tie.

Young Boys latest home form

Young Boys have recently been on a good run of form at home, and have been unbeaten in their five most recent matches. They managed to defeat Servette 3-0 in their last home game in the league. In their last five matches, they have scored 14 goals and conceded just one.

Young Boys 4-0 Zurich 16/07/22

Young Boys 3-0 Liepaja 28/07/22

Young Boys 1-1 Grasshopper 31/07/22

Young Boys 3-0 KuPS 11/08/22

Young Boys 3-0 Servette 14/08/22

Young Boys latest away form

Young Boys have recently been on a relatively good run of form on the road, having lost just one of their six most recent matches. They drew 0-0 with Basel in their last away game in the league. In their last five matches, they have scored six goals and conceded two.

Liepaja 0-1 Young Boys 21/07/22

Sion 0-3 Young Boys 24/07/22

Thisted 2-0 Young Boys 30/07/22

KuPS 0-2 Young Boys 04/08/22

Basel 0-0 Young Boys 07/08/22

Anderlecht latest home form

Anderlecht have recently been on a good run of form at home, as they have won each of their four most recent matches. They defeated Paide 3-0 in their last home game in the Europa Conference League. In their last five matches, they have scored 13 goals and conceded four.

Anderlecht 2-3 Lyon 16/07/22

Anderlecht 3-0 Lyon 16/07/22

Anderlecht 2-0 KV Oostende 24/07/22

Anderlecht 3-1 RFC Seraing 07/08/22

Anderlecht 3-0 Paide 11/08/22

Anderlecht latest away form

Anderlecht have recently been on a relatively good run of form on the road, having lost just one of their seven most recent matches. They defeated Sint-Truiden 3-0 in their last away game in the league. In their last five matches, they have scored nine goals and conceded just two.

Helmond Sport 0-2 Anderlcht 12/07/22

Wolvertem Merchtem 1-2 Anderlecht 17/07/22

Cercle Brugge 1-0 Anderlecht 30/07/22

Paide 0-2 Anderlecht 04/08/22

Sint-Truiden 0-3 Anderlecht 14/08/22

Young Boys news

Jean-Pierre Nsame should continue to lead the line for Young Boys, and could be joined again by summer signing Cedric Itten.

Vincent Sierro is likely to operate behind the front two, while Mohamed Camara and Aurele Amenda will again battle to partner captain Cedric Zesiger in the first leg of the playoff.

Anderlecht news

Forward Fabio Silva should operate in the Anderlecht front line from the outset on Thursday, after he came off the bench to score in their second leg against Paide.

Lior Refaelov should also be handed a starting role given his form in front of goal, with Michael Murillo on the right flank.

Prediction and Odds

We are expecting this to be a closely-contested affair between two teams more than capable of taking the game to one another.

However, we just envisage the Swiss side taking a narrow lead with home advantage, with everything likely to remain in the balance ahead of next week’s reverse leg.

Odds: 1 2.20 X 2.05 2 2.30