Europa League 2015/16 Week Four Round-Up:

Just as several round of 16 slots were snatched up with last week's Champions League matches, the group stage of the 2015 2016 Europa League also began its wrap-up on Thursday, November 5^th. Europa League 2015/16 week four featured 24 fixtures, which saw four football clubs officially securing their spots in the tournament's round of 32. Another two squads, meanwhile, have been statistically eliminated from the round of 32 pot. The remaining 42 clubs will have to bring their A-game for the sixth match day of the 2015 2016 UEL, set for Thursday, November 26^th.

The Guarantees

The four soccer clubs who are currently guaranteed spots in the 2015 2016 Europa League round of 32 are Napoli, Molde, Borussia Dortmund, and Rapid Wien. Napoli have been particularly spectacular in the group stage, winning all four of their games and scoring 16 goals while only conceding one. With a 12-point tally, they are not only the top team in the tournament right now, but they are also guaranteed a first-place finish in Group D. Fittingly, they nabbed the biggest win of the week, topping FC Midtjylland 5-0 in a thrilling home fixture.

The other three teams aren't guaranteed the top spots in their groups, but can't statistically dip below second. FC Molde, for instance, lead Group A with double the points of Fenerbahce, their nearest competition. Borussia Dortmund, meanwhile, beat Gabala 4-0 last week, to remain three points ahead of the field in C. And Rapid Wien also maintained a three-point lead, beating Viktoria Plzen 2-1 to secure their round of 32 slot.

The Safe Bets

The Champions League's round of 16 is fairly easy to guess at this point, beyond one or two groups where a number of outcomes are possible. The round of 32 for the Europa League, though, looks less predictable after the four-game mark, with numerous teams still on the borderline and a few contests that will be too close to call until after November 26^th.

Still, there are safe bets in the mix. Liverpool, though only second in Group B at the moment, they were also the only team in the group that gained substantially last week, picking up three points in a 1-0 win against Rubin Kazan. With Jurgen Klopp at the helm, expect them to pass current leaders Sion to win a round of 32 slot.

Krasnodar (Group C), Villarreal (E), Lazio and Saint-Etienne (both G), Basel and Fiorentina (I), Tottenham Hotspur (J), and Athletic Bilbao (L) also seem to have the momentum on their side. All seven football clubs won their matches on November 5^th, with Bilbao delivering one of the biggest victories of the week in a 5-1 home match against Partizan.

The Close Calls and Wildcards

As for the close call groups, there are a lot of them at this stage. In Group A, for instance, Fenerbahce and Ajax are battling for the second-place slot, chasing down Molde. They drew 0-0 last week, only muddying the waters further.

In Group B, Sion are actually leading the way right now, but only avoided a loss against Bordeaux this week on a last-minute own goal from the opposing team. Midtjylland are holding second in C, but look weak after two big back-to-back losses against Napoli. Club Brugge, who beat Legia Warsaw 1-0 last week, could feasibly challenge.

Group F is a three-team race, with Groningen statistically eliminated from the round of 32 race, but with only three points separating Braga, Slovan Liberec, and Olympique Marseille. Similarly jumbled is Group H, where all four teams (Lokomotiv Moscow, Besiktas, Sporting CP, and Skënderbeu Korçë) are still in play.

Group J is a mess, too. Tottenham lead the way, following a 2-1 win against Anderlecht, but only three points separate all four teams in the group (which also includes Monaco and Qarabag). In other words, expect an exciting final two weeks there. Things could also get interesting in Group H, where the perceived frontrunners (Schalke 04) have now drawn two matches in a row, leaving space for both Sparta Prague and Asteras Tripoli to jockey for position.

As for Group L, Partizan are currently second to likely advancers Athletic Bilbao. However, they have the same point tally (six) as Augsburg, and after Augsburg's impressive 4-1 demolition of AZ last week (featuring a hat trick from Argentine striker Raul Bobadilla), we feel that the German football team will likely prevail.

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