- Team form: Union St.-Gilloise have won four and drawn one of their last five matches in all competitions.
- Away form: Real Sociedad have won one recent away match.
- Europa League form: Union St.-Gilloise have won three points from one UEFA Europa League 2026/2027 match while Real Sociedad have zero points from the same number of games.
Union should have the momentum
Union's resurgence
David Hubert's side are on a roll. The Belgian coach has overseen Union since 13 October 2025 and his team have come to life with a style of play that presses high and then surges forward in numbers to spring the lines of the opposition. Les Unionistes are a front-foot team and have some real punch.
La Real's tactics
Pellegrino Matarazzo is perhaps more of a front-foot coach than Hubert, having implemented a higher-energy style since he took over La Real on 20 December 2025. His players press higher, they look to take the ball forward quicker and they deploy a 4-3-3, which is a very pro-active system.
Match prediction
This should be a game where the transitions between attack and defence are vital, but our selection for the win on Thursday is Union. We simply feel the hosts will do a better job of disrupting Real Sociedad, profiting from their forward line of pressing and their speed to hit the break with more force than their opponents.
Besfort Zeneli can unlock the game
Real Sociedad will create more than one chance in this game and will need Gomez to score at least one to have a chance of winning.
A home win without conceding is still the best selection for this game, but the odds on both teams to score – No are long enough to add Over 2.5 goals, which should be the case given the front-foot nature of both teams.
- Mateo Biondic has one goal in one UEFA Europa League 2026/2027 game to put him in the top of Union's scoring charts, but he is a real finisher and the best man to take chances at the other end of the field.
- Besfort Zeneli, who has one assist in one UEFA Europa League 2026/2027 appearance, brings the creativity to this attack.
- Sergio Gomez is Real Sociedad's top scorer in this competition with one goal in the same amount of games and the most clinical finisher that they have.
