Europa League Preview

Atletico Madrid have won two of the last three Europa League trophies and are 11/1 (188Bet/You Win) to land it again this year. The Spaniards begin their group campaign with an away game against Hapoel Tel Aviv. Atletico are a best priced 4/5 (BetVictor) for victory in Israel while the home side are 5/1 (Coral) and the draw is a best priced 29/10 (pinnacle). Goal machine Falcao is in ridiculous scoring form netting netting nine goals in his last five games in all competitions and is just 3/1 (bet365) to open the scoring or 4/5 (bet365) to grab a goal at anytime in the game. Also in this group Viktoria Plzen take on Academica. The Czech side sit top of their league while the visitors are ninth in Portugal. Plzen have kept a clean sheet in 12 of their last 14 games while Academica have failed to net in three of their last four away games. I like the evens (bet365) on the home team to keep a clean sheet.

Tottenham take on Lazio in the pick of the opening Thursday night games and the English side are 20/23 (Bet Victor) favourites to take all three points while the Italians are 7/2 (general). Lazio have had a great start to the season winning all three of their games while Spurs finally got off to winning ways when they defeated Reading on Sunday in the Premier League. It is a game that pits two good attacks against each other and with question marks over both defences I like the look of the 10/11 (Blue Sq/888 Sport/william hill) on both teams to score. Group J also sees Maribor take on Panathinaikos with the Greek side 13/8 (william hill), Maribor are 2/1 (Bet Victor) while the draw is 7/3 (pinnacle).

Liverpool are also in action in the Europa League and they are away to Young Boys. The English side are 17/10 (bet365) for victory while the Swiss side are 2/1 (general) with the draw a best priced 44/19 (Pinnacle). With Man Utd to face on Sunday I would expected Brendan Rodgers to make some changes to his team and Oussama Assaidi could be on the team sheet and if so the 16/1 (Totesport/betfred/Bet Victor) on him to score first looks very generous. Also in this group Udinese take on Anzhi Makhachkala with bookmakers struggling to split the pair. The Italians are 27/14 (Pinnacle) while the Russians are 17/10 (Coral). I like the over 2.5 goals in this game as the Russian side have grabbed 16 goals in their last four games which can be had at 22/19 with pinnacle.

Newcastle complete the trio of English teams in action and they face an away game with Maritimo. The Portuguese side are the marginal 6/4 (Stan James/ladbrokes) favourites to win the game. The English team are available at 5/2 (Bet Victor) and the draw is a 30/13 (Pinnacle) chance. Shola Ameobi could be handed a start and looked sharp when coming off the bench against Everton on Monday night. The forward is 17/2 (Bet365) to grab the opener and 3/1 (Bet365) to net anytime. Also in this group Bordeaux take on Club Brugge with the French side the 8/11 (Totesport/betfred) favourites, the draw is 31/11 (Pinnacle) and the away win is 5/1 (Bet Victor).

The best bet of the night in the Europa League is the 9/2 (Bet365/Bodog/Coral) available on Steaua Bucharest away to Stuttgart in the draw no bet market. The German have made a bad start to the season (including a 6-1 hammering from Bayern Munich) while the Romanians are top of their domestic league and are no mugs.

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20/09/2012     © Frixo 2026