Football: Besiktas eyes top spot in Europa League group
Istanbul club limbers up for Group H home clash against Lokomotiv Moscow
Ankara
ANKARA
Turkish club Besiktas is looking to move to the top of UEFA Europa League Group H by beating Russian opponents Lokomotiv Moscow in Istanbul on Thursday.
The Istanbul side have no injuries or suspensions ahead of the clash.
Besiktas is in second place with five points in Group H, which is led by Lokomotiv Moscow on seven points. Portuguese club Sporting Lisbon comes third with four points. Albania's Skenderbeu is yet to have any point.
The game at Ataturk Olympic Stadium will begin at 7 p.m. local time (1600 GMT).
City rivals Fenerbahce will be hosted by Dutch club Ajax in Amsterdam.
The match at Amsterdam Arena will kick-off at 7 p.m. local time in Netherlands (1800 GMT).
Fenerbahce regular Caner Erkin – playing as an offensive left-back – has a major knee injury so he will miss the match against Ajax. Additionally, the Istanbul club's Serbian right-winger Lazar Markovic is not expected to play as the 21-year-old sustained a thigh injury, keeping him out until early December.
Norwegian club Molde leads Group A with seven points. Fenerbahce has four points in the group. Ajax and Scottish club Celtic have two points each.
Twenty-four Europa League matches will be played on Thursday.
Fixtures:
Besiktas vs Lokomotiv Moscow
Qarabag vs Monaco
Celtic vs Molde
Ajax vs Fenerbahce
Rubin Kazan vs Liverpool
Sion vs Bordeaux
Krasnodar vs PAOK
Borussia Dortmund vs Qabala
Club Brugge vs Legia
Napoli vs Midtjylland
Dinamo Minsk vs Villarreal
Viktoria Plzen vs Rapid Wien
Olympique Marseille vs Braga
Groningen vs Slovan Liberec
Rosenborg vs Lazio
Saint-Etienne vs Dnipro
Tottenham Hotspur vs Anderlecht
Sparta Prague vs Schalke 04
Asteras vs APOEL
Augsburg vs AZ Alkmaar
Athletic Bilbao vs Partizan
Skenderbeu vs Sporting Lisbon
Belenenses vs Basel
Lech vs Fiorentina
Standings:
Group A
Teams | P | W | D | L | GF | GA | +/- | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Molde | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 3 | 4 | 7 |
Fenerbahce | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 5 | -1 | 4 |
Ajax | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 4 | -1 | 2 |
Celtic | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 7 | -2 | 2 |
Group B
Teams | P | W | D | L | GF | GA | +/- | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Sion | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 7 |
Liverpool | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 3 |
Bordeaux | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | -1 | 2 |
Rubin | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 3 | -1 | 2 |
Group C
Teams | P | W | D | L | GF | GA | +/- | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Borussia Dortmund | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 7 |
Krasnodar | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 4 |
PAOK | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
Qabala | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 5 | -3 | 1 |
Group D
Teams | P | W | D | L | GF | GA | +/- | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Napoli | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 1 | 10 | 9 |
Midtjylland | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 6 |
Club Brugge | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 9 | -7 | 1 |
Legia | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 | -3 | 1 |
Group E
Teams | P | W | D | L | GF | GA | +/- | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Rapid Wien | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 9 |
Villarreal | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 6 |
Viktoria Plzen | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 3 |
Dinamo Minsk | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 7 | -7 | 0 |
Group F
Teams | P | W | D | L | GF | GA | +/- | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Braga | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 9 |
Slovan Liberec | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 4 |
Olympique Marseille | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 3 |
Groningen | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 5 | -4 | 1 |
Group G
Teams | P | W | D | L | GF | GA | +/- | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Lazio | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 4 | 3 | 7 |
Saint-Etienne | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 4 |
Dnipro | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 4 |
Rosenborg | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 6 | -3 | 1 |
Group H
Teams | P | W | D | L | GF | GA | +/- | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Lokomotiv Moscow | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 7 |
Besiktas | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 5 |
Sporting Lisbon | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 5 | 2 | 4 |
Skenderbeu | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 8 | -7 | 0 |
Group I
Teams | P | W | D | L | GF | GA | +/- | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Basel | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 6 |
Lech | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | -1 | 4 |
Belenenses | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 5 | -3 | 4 |
Fiorentina | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 3 |
Group J
Teams | P | W | D | L | GF | GA | +/- | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Monaco | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 5 |
Anderlecht | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 4 |
Tottenham Hotspur | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 4 |
Qarabag | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 | -2 | 3 |
Group K
Teams | P | W | D | L | GF | GA | +/- | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Schalke 04 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 2 | 7 | 7 |
Sparta Prague | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 5 |
APOEL | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 6 | -4 | 3 |
Asteras | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 7 | -5 | 1 |
Group L
Teams | P | W | D | L | GF | GA | +/- | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Athletic Bilbao | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 6 |
Partizan | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 5 | 1 | 6 |
AZ Alkmaar | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 5 | -1 | 3 |
Augsburg | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 6 | -3 | 3 |
