Swansea value once again in the Europa League

The Europa League third qualifying round second leg matches take place this Thursday across the continent and here is our guide to the best of the bets from these games.

Swansea have one foot in the next round after a comfortable 4-0 victory over Malmo in the first leg. The Welsh side played some wonderful football at times in the first leg ripping apart their opponents and I am shocked then to see them available at 23/20 (paddy Power) for victory on Thursday night. The game is ideally set up for Swansea as the Swedish side will have to come out an attack them and the Welsh side can hit them on the counter attack.

Wilfried Bony grabbed two in the opening leg and is a tempting 7/4 (TOTESPORT/betfred) to score at anytime while Michu who also netted in the opening leg can be backed at 15/8 with the same two firms.

I recommended a month or so ago in an antepost piece to get involved with Swansea in the outright markets for the Europa League and I still think they look great value at 100/1 (BETVICTOR) to win this trophy. They have a number of talented players, a manager who will take the competition seriously and can match the runs of Fulham and Middlesbrough who both made the final.

St Johnstone are having a great time in Europé having seen off Rosenborg in the previous round and then winning the opening leg 1-0 against Minsk. The Scottish side should have enough to qualify though odds of 8/13 (paddy Power) on them to win the second leg does not inspire me to rush to bet on them. Those who think Minsk can get something from the game can side with them at 6/1 (BETVICTOR) and the draw at 3/1 (BETVICTOR). I would expect a low scoring game as 11 of the last 12 games St Johnstone have played have featured under 2.5 goals and nine of the last ten home games have also gone under 2.5 goals. The under 2.5 goals in this game can be backed at 11/13 (BWIN/betway) while both teams NOT to score might be another way to play this at 5/6 (BWIN).

Motherwell look to have a mountain to climb in their second leg as they travel to Russia 2-0 down from their first leg. Their opponents Kuban Krasnodar are on a great run of form with no defeat in any of their last 16 matches. A clear gulf in class exists between the two sides and the home side should once more emerge victorious. The 2/7 (CORAL) on them winning the game looks unbackable while the draw at 19/4 (GENERAL) and the Motherwell win are unlikely options at 14/1 (BETVICTOR).

Those looking to side with the Russian side might be tempted to do so at 10/11 in the to win to nil market against a Motherwell side clearly missing Michael Higdon.

Of the games not involving domestic teams I like the look of Vitesse to get something from their game with Petrolul Ploiesti. The Romanian side are eighth in their domestic league having won one and drawn two in their opening three games for the season. The Dutch side won their opening game 3-1 against Heracles. Some nine places exist between the Netherlands league and Romania in the UEFA country coefficients and Vitesse can showcase the superiority with a victory at evens (CORAL).

BEST OF THE BETS

GOLD: Swansea to beat Malmo, 23/20 (paddy power)
SILVER: Vitesse to beat Petrolul Ploiesti, evens (CORAL)
BRONZE: Swansea EW to win the Europa League, 100/1 (BETVICTOR)

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06/08/2013     © Frixo 2026