Our prediction for this Europa League match:
LASK will look to kickstart their Europa League qualifying campaign in style when they welcome Steaua to their Raiffeisen Arena on Thursday. The Black and Whites head into the first leg following back-to-back losses to Altach and Salzburg in the Bundesliga, but they are surely capable of matching the Romanians in front of home fans. Both Ivan Ljubicic and Ibrahim Mustapha should miss out with injuries for the home team.
FCSB, on the other hand, failed to upset Sparta Prague in the Champions League third qualifying round, with the team suffering a 3-2 loss at home in the return leg. As Steaua seem to be struggling at the back, we predict that LASK are going to emerge triumphant in Thursday’s encounter. To make things even worse for the visiting team, experienced midfielder Valentin Cretu serves a one-game ban due to the accumulation of yellow cards.
Highlighted Team (LASK):
Founded back in 1908, LASK are an Austrian football club that compete in the Bundesliga. Die Laskler play home games at Waldstadion in Pashing. The stadium with the capacity of 7,870 was opened in 1990 and nowadays is known under the name of Raiffeisen Arena. The club, though, welcome their rivals at the 14,000 capacity Linzer Stadion in European competitions.
Back in the 1964/65 season LASK clinched their first and only Austrian Bundesliga trophy, with the team finishing the campaign one point clear of second-placed Rapid Wien. LASK became the first club outside Vienna to win the domestic title and, to make things even better for the fans, die Laskler clinched the domestic cup the same year.
LASK’s home colours are white and violet, whilst they wear black and white when playing on the travels. In the 2018/2029 season LASK booked their place in the Europa League group stages.