After two rounds, ten teams are still on six points, but their starts have been very different. Juventus lead the table with seven goals scored, Bayer Leverkusen are yet to concede, Omonia are unexpectedly among the frontrunners, while Bournemouth have won both games in their first European campaign.
Matchday 3 should start breaking that group apart. Two perfect teams meet in Nicosia, Milan test Bournemouth’s European momentum, while Lyon travel as underdogs to a Hoffenheim side that has lost both matches. Here are the main fixtures and the current 888STARZ line we will return to once the results are in.
Juventus vs Rennes
Juventus opened the Europa League with a 5–0 win over NEC, then edged Celta 2–1 and currently sit top with seven goals from two matches. Rennes have four points after drawing with Sturm and beating OFI 2–1.
888STARZ: 1.61 / 4.31 / 5.58. Juventus’ favourite status makes sense after their perfect European start, but the timing is interesting: they have just lost 3–0 at home to Lazio in Serie A.
So this is less a question of the gap in quality and more about Juventus’ ability to reset immediately after their worst result of the season.
Bournemouth vs Milan
One of the most interesting lines of the round. Bournemouth have won both Europa League matches — 2–1 against Real Sociedad and 3–0 against Sturm — and now host the biggest European night in the club’s history.
Milan started with a 2–0 defeat to Benfica but responded by beating Salzburg 4–0.
888STARZ: 2.25 / 3.63 / 3.21. Despite Milan’s seven European Cups, Bournemouth are the favourites.
The market is clearly looking at current momentum rather than reputation. Bournemouth have six points and arrive after another domestic win, while Milan beat Atalanta 3–2 but nearly threw away a 3–0 lead.
Besiktas vs Crystal Palace
Besiktas are another side with six points. They followed a 4–1 win over Marseille with a 3–2 victory in Hoffenheim, with Hyeon-gyu Oh involved in all three goals — scoring twice and creating another.
888STARZ: 2.15 / 3.82 / 3.29. The home-favourite status is easy to understand, especially with Palace coming off two painful defeats.
After losing 2–3 to Lyon in Europe, Crystal Palace were then beaten 5–0 by Brighton in the Premier League. This match is now as much about their reaction as it is about the Europa League table.
Omonia vs Benfica
The clearest meeting of two leaders: both teams have six points. Omonia are yet to concede, with four goals scored and none allowed, including a comfortable 3–0 win over Celje on Matchday 2.
Benfica have been even more impressive in attack: a 2–0 win in Milan followed by 4–1 against Celtic. They have a 6–1 goal difference after two rounds.
888STARZ: 7.70 / 5.22 / 1.41. The table says six points against six, while the market sees a huge difference in quality.
That is exactly what makes the fixture interesting. This is the first real test of how sustainable Omonia’s perfect start actually is.
Hoffenheim vs Lyon
The biggest contradiction between the table and the line. Lyon have won both European matches — 2–1 against Anderlecht and 3–2 against Crystal Palace — and sit on six points.
Hoffenheim lost 0–2 to OFI and 2–3 to Besiktas and remain on zero.
Yet 888STARZ: 2.07 / 3.98 / 3.37 still makes the Germans favourites.
This is exactly the kind of price worth revisiting after the match: the market is placing more weight on Hoffenheim’s home advantage and underlying level than on the first two results.
Lyon also arrive after a 2–1 Ligue 1 win over Nice, while Hoffenheim have at least shown a response domestically with a 2–1 victory in Mönchengladbach.
Celtic vs Celta
Here the situation is reversed: both teams are still without a point. Celtic have lost to Ferencvaros and Benfica, while Celta have also opened with two defeats, including a 2–1 home loss to Juventus.
888STARZ: 2.75 / 3.55 / 2.60. This is the tightest of our selected lines, with Celta only marginal favourites.
For both sides, a third defeat would already make the route towards the top 24 significantly more difficult.
The Rest of Matchday 3
Also playing on October 22: Ararat-Armenia vs AZ Alkmaar, Ferencvaros vs Torreense, Dinamo Zagreb vs NEC, Lech vs Sunderland, OFI vs Bayer Leverkusen, Union vs Hapoel Be’er Sheva, Sturm vs Marseille, Viktoria Plzen vs Levski, Jagiellonia vs Anderlecht, Lillestrom vs Real Sociedad, Celje vs Salzburg and Olympiacos vs Sparta Prague.
Bayer Leverkusen, Sunderland, Ferencvaros and Olympiacos are also part of the group sitting on six points. Marseille are at the opposite end: after two rounds, the French side are still on zero.
Before Matchday 3
The main question is no longer who started well, but which of those early results are actually sustainable. Omonia now face their first opponent of Benfica’s level, Bournemouth host their first major European heavyweight, while Lyon must prove that their six points matter more than Hoffenheim’s favourite status.
Juventus face a different test: after the 3–0 defeat to Lazio, they need to show that their strong European start is not dependent on domestic form. For Celtic, Celta and Marseille, meanwhile, Matchday 3 is already where a poor start could turn into a genuine problem.
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