Premier League surprise package Wolverhampton Wanderers can make history on Thursday evening, when they host Serie A side Torino at Molineux for the second leg of their UEFA Europa League Playoffs tie. Last week the Wolves played a great match in Turin and snatched a 3-2 victory that gives them a significant advantage ahead of the second leg. Wolverhampton have good memories from their only previous meeting against an Italian side, it happened in 1972 and they knocked out Juventus in the quarter-finals of the UEFA Cup.
Wolverhampton are one of the most in-form teams in European football at the moment, they are still unbeaten since the start of the season and they scored in all but one of their eight matches in all competitions so far. However, they are still looking for their first Premier League win this season, last weekend they recorded their third consecutive draw, 1-1 at home against Burnley. Manager Nuno Espirito Santo rested midfielder Leander Dendoncker at the weekend and the Belgium international should return to the starting eleven on Thursday. There are no injury worries for the home side.
Torino did well to score twice in the first leg, but the three goals that they conceded make their mission in England almost impossible. The last time they played in Europe was in the 2014-2015 season, and at that time they reached the last sixteen of the UEFA Europa League. Last weekend they started the Serie A season as well and they kicked it off with a 2-1 victory at home over Sassuolo, with goals from Simone Zaza and Andrea Belotti. Cristian Ansaldi picked up a knock during that match and he might be forced to miss Thursday's game, along with Iago Falque.
Probable line-ups:
Wolves: Patricio - Vallejo, Coady, Boly - Traore, Dendoncker, Neves, Moutinho, Jonny - Jimenez, Jota
Torino: Sirigu - Bonifazi, Bremer, Izzo - De Silvestri, Rincon, Baselli, Lukic, Aina - Zaza, Belotti
My prediction:
Torino will definitely try to grab an unlikely qualification and they will most probably score at Molineux, but Wolverhampton should be able to secure a 1-1 draw and reach the group stage.
Here are the odds for the match at NetBet:
Wolves win - 1.87
Draw - 3.60
Torino win - 3.85
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