UEFA Europa League, Matchday 5

Group H

Stade Pierre-Mauroy, Lille

LOSC - Sparta Prague

- Kick-off at 18:55 CET (17:55 GMT)

Christophe Galtier's side are ion the driver's seat in Group H, a point above second-placed Milan and two clear of Sparta as they head into their Matchday 5 clash with the Czech side looking to cement their place in the knockout rounds.

"Our only objective is to qualify with a match left to play," announced Galtier, who will be without the injured Renato Sanches, Jérémy Pied and Zeki Celik for the match. "Sure, we could play out two draws and qualify that way, but that's not the best-case scenario and I hope we don't have to resort to that. But it's certainly better to have two options than just one."

LOSC got the better of Sparta 4-1 on Matchday 1 thanks in large part to a hat-trick from attacking maestro Yousuf Yazici and the Turk should be on hand to lead the attacking line of a near-full strength XI, flanked by Jonathans David and Bamba as well as dangerous Brazilian Luiz Araujo.

Probable teams

LOSC: Maignan; Djalo, Fonte (c), Botman, Bradaric; Araujo, André, Xeka, Bamba; Yazici, David

Sparta Prague: Nita; Plechaty, Celutska, Krejci; Vindheim, Dockal (c), Pavelka, Travnik, Hanousek; Moberg-Karlsson, Julis



Group C

Allianz Riviera, Nice

OGC Nice - Bayer Leverkusen

- Kick-off at 21:00 CET (20:00 GMT)

With Les Aiglons dropping out of contention to progress from the group - bar a miraculous turn of events - after the 3-1 defeat to Slavia Prague on Matchday 4, Thursday's visit of Bayer Leverkusen would appear to be more about Nice's saving face - and perhaps the tenure of coach Patrick Vieira.

The World Cup winner has come under scrutiny with the club slipping into the bottom half of the table with a 3-1 defeat to Dijon in Round 12 - the 20th-placed side's first win of the season - and a less than inspiring run in Europe, which notably saw them dismantled 6-2 by Leverkusen on Matchday 1.

Vieira: 'The buck stops with me'

"I'm going through this tough time just like the fans, like the players, like all the club's employees and like you journalists. It's a very difficult time for us," said Vieira. "I have to face it: the buck stops with me. I have to put things in place to put things right. Of course the players are affected, there is a loss of confidence. It's up to me to find the right levers so that they can express their qualities and talent on the pitch."

To do so, Vieira will have to do without the injured Yusuf Atal, Dante, Pierre Lees-Melou and Kasper Dolberg, but was keen to dispel any notion of having given up in this competition.

"To be clear, I'm going to field the best team, to win the match," Vieira declared."Our only focus is this match, not Sunday's clash away to Reims."


Probable teams

OGC Nice: Benitez (c); Pelmard, Danilo, Nsoki, Lotomba; Trouillet, Thuram, Reine-Adélaïde; Lopes, Gouiri, Maolida

Bayer Leverkusen: Hradecky; L. Bender (c), Tah, Dragovic, Wendell; Amiri, Baumgartlinger, Demirbay; Bailey, P. Schick, Diaby