Preview: Royal Antwerp vs. Fenerbahce - prediction, team news, lineups

The bottom two teams of Group D will collide on Thursday in the latest Europa League fixture, as Royal Antwerp host Fenerbahce, with each team needing a victory.

Neither club have managed to pick up a win in the competition during the opening three games, which includes a draw against each other the last time they met.

Match preview

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Royal Antwerp have struggled so far in the Europa League, which is why they find themselves bottom of Group D heading into the second half of games.

Having managed just one draw so far, the club are five points adrift of a qualification place and six behind the table-toppers Eintracht Frankfurt.

Their previous outing in the competition did provide them a result when they faced their opponents on Thursday, having taken the lead in the opening two minutes courtesy of Mbwana Samatta.

However, they then had to fight back into the game after going behind due to a brace from Enner Valencia, with Pieter Gerkens eventually rescuing a point for them.

Antwerp's form in the Belgian Pro League is much stronger, as they currently sit in third place, but the team have been inconsistent since their last European game, with one draw, victory and defeat to their name.

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Fenerbahce have been equally as poor since that fixture, having lost both of their league matches since they last faced the Belgian side, which has seen them drop to seventh place in the table.

However, they have only been beaten once in Group D, which took place in the second game when they faced Olympiacos, with that defeat being sandwiched by two draws.

The Turkish club managed to take a point from their opening fixture against Frankfurt, but they will need to step up again and push for a victory if they want to stand a chance of qualifying to the knockout phase of the tournament.

Fenerbahce are four points behind Olympiacos, with a victory on Thursday having the potential to place some real pressure onto them before they compete against each other again.

Team News

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Royal Antwerp will be able to welcome back Jelle Bataille into the squad for the first time since the opening game of the group after he served his suspension for a red card.

However, the club will still be without Sander Coopman who is currently dealing with a cruciate ligament rupture, although Gerkens has stepped into the creative midfielder role well throughout this season.

Serdar Aziz is unavailable for the visitors this week as he is suffering from a muscle issue that has kept him out of the team since the October international break.

He is not the only injury that Fenerbahce are having to deal with either, with Mert Hakan Yandas and Irfan Kahveci both out of action at the moment.

Royal Antwerp possible starting lineup:
Butez; Vines, Almeida, Engels, De Laet; Yusuf, Verstraete; Gerkens, Fischer, Benson; Frey

Fenerbahce possible starting lineup:
Bayindir; Tisserand, Szalai, Novak; Sangare, Gustavo, Kadioglu, Zajc; Pelkas; Rossi, Valencia

We say: Royal Antwerp 1-2 Fenerbahce

This is a fixture between two teams in poor form who are struggling for confidence at the moment, both in Europe and their respective leagues.

However, Fenerbahce should have enough quality and experience to see them through in what will no doubt be a tightly-fought encounter.

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