Football Europa League 21st Feb

The second legs of the Europa League last 32 matches take place on Thursday night with four English sides aiming to progress, here is our guide to the best of the bets.

Tottenham have Gareth Bale to thank as they enter the game with Lyon with a 2-1 advantage. Bale struck both goals against the French side and is 9/4 (Stan James) to score at anytime in the second leg.

Bookmakers have Lyon as the 17/13 (pinnacle) favourites for the game and the French side are 7/4 (betway) to qualify. Tottenham are 8/15 (general) to go through to the next round and are 12/5 (bet365/BetVictor) to win on the night while the second leg to end in a draw is 38/15 (pinnacle).

The bet in this game looks like being in the goalscorer markets where you can get Guieda Fofana at a standout 28/1(BetVictor) to grab the opener and at 17/2 (bet365/BetVictor/paddy Power) to score anytime. The French midfielder has grabbed three goals in his last seven games and could pop up again here at a big price.

After securing a 0-0 draw in their First Leg against Newcastle Metalist are the 4/5 (ladbrokes) favourites to qualify while the Magpies are 11/10 (BetVictor/paddy Power/betway) to progress through. Metalist are 10/11 (general) to win the second leg while pinnacle are best price on the draw and a Newcastle win with the draw 18/7 and the away win 27/7. A lot depends on what Alan Pardew does in terms of team selection. For the first leg he could afford to field his strongest side with no league game. This time around they face a tricky situation as they have a key game with Southampton in the league on Sunday. For me then this is a game to swerve.

A 1-0 away victory in the first leg puts Chelsea in the dream position to progress against Sparta Prague and they are just 1/16 (bet365) to do so while the Czech side are 9/1 (bet365/paddy power/ladbrokes). The London side are just 7/20 (betway) to win on the night though bearing in mind their inconsistent nature it is not a price to get excited about. This looks another game to swerve from a betting point of view.

Another side that are difficult to read are Liverpool who have lost to Oldham and West Brom in recent weeks before blowing aside Swansea 5-0 last weekend. Two goals down from the first leg the Reds have it all to do and are 10/3 (ladbrokes) to qualify while Zenit are just 1/4 (general). To me the best bet is in the anytime scorer market where Hulk can be backed at 3/1 (ladbrokes). This is a big price on a talented player who netted in the opening leg. As Liverpool look for goals then Zenit can hit them on the break and the Brazilian looks the man to side with.

The pick of the bets in the games not involving the English sides comes from the game involving Dnipro and Basel. The Swiss side won the opening 2-0 leg and have a wealth of European experience that should serve them well here. I expect them to be difficult to break down and they have lost just one of their last four away games in this competition and three of their last ten. Take them with +0.5 on the Asian Handicap which you can get at a very generous 10/7 (Pinnacle) which will pay out if this game ends in a draw or a Basel victory.

BEST OF THE BETS

GOLD: Basel +0.5 on Asian Handicap against Dnipro, 10/7 (Pinnacle)
SILVER: Hulk to score anytime v Liverpool, 3/1 (ladbrokes)
BRONZE: Guieda Fofana to score v Newcastle, First 28/1 (BetVictor), anytime 17/2 (Bet365/BetVictor/paddy power).

Go To bet365

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21/02/2013     © Frixo 2024