LONDON: Defending champions Sevilla will seek to strengthen their position as Group ‘G’ leaders when the Europa League returns for the third round of matches Thursday.

Sevilla, who are riding high in second place in La Liga, go to Belgium to play Standard Liege, who this week sacked coach Guy Luzon.

Tottenham Hotspur need a boost against high-flying Greeks Asteras Tripolis as they look to turn the page on Saturday’s 4-1 defeat at Manchester City, while fellow Premier League club Everton play Lille.

Tottenham are third in Group ‘C’ after two draws with surprise leaders Asteras Tripolis having four points from two games thanks to goals from Facundo Parra, who buried a late volley for the equaliser against Besiktas and the winner against Partizan Belgrade.

Everton will need to keep a close eye on Belgium forward Divock Origi, signed from Lille by city rivals Liverpool in the off-season and then lent back to the northern French club.

Everton top Group ‘H’ on four points ahead of the third round of group games, two points ahead of borh FC Krasnodar and Lille and three above German side Wolfsburg. Wolfsburg, without several key players, seek their first win of the competition at Krasnodar.

Elsewhere, Torino’s Fabio Quaglierella gets a chance to test his goal-scoring start to the season against HJK Helsinki, Villarreal host FC Zurich and Celtic welcome pointless Romanians Astra Giurgiu.

Meanwhile, Inter Milan, who have been struggling domestically, will look to extend their perfect start in Group ‘F’ when they host St Etienne at the San Siro.

Fixtures: Groups A to F (kick-offs 1905 GMT):

Group ‘A’: Borussia Moenchengladbach v Apollon Limassol; Villarreal v FC Zurich.

Group ‘B’: Club Brugge v FC Copenhagen; Torino v HJK Helsinki.

Group ‘C’: Partizan Belgrade v Besiktas; Tottenham Hotspur v Asteras Tripolis.

Group ‘D’: Red Bull Salzburg v Dinamo Zagreb; Celtic v Astra Giurgiu.

Group ‘E’: PSV Eindhoven v Panathinaikos; Estoril v Dinamo Moscow.

Group ‘F’: Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk v Qarabag; Inter Milan v St Etienne.

Groups G to L (kick-offs 1700 GMT unless stated):

Group ‘G’: Standard Liege v Sevilla; Rijeka v Feyenoord.

Group ‘H’: FC Krasnodar v VfL Wolfsburg (1600 GMT); Lille v Everton.

Group ‘I’: Young Boys v Napoli; Slovan Bratislava v Sparta Prague.

Group ‘J’: Steaua Bucharest v Rio Ave; Aalborg v Dynamo Kiev.

Group ‘K’: PAOK v Fiorentina; Dinamo Minsk v Guingamp.

Group ‘L’: Trabzonspor v Lokeren; Metalist v Legia Warsaw (Wednesday, 1600 GMT).

Published in Dawn, October 23rd, 2014