EUROPA LEAGUE THURSDAY: We preview Thursday’s Europa League games between CLUB BRUGGE v MAN U, FC COPENHAGEN v CELTIC, OLYMPIAKOS v ARSENAL, RANGERS v BRAGA and WOLVES v ESPANYOL all with a recommended BETDAQ bet.
CLUB BRUGGE V MANCHESTER UNITED
5.55pm After two days of Champions League football this week, we see the return of the Europa League on Thursday night! We kick off our preview with Manchester United away to Club Brugge after a confidence boosting win away to Chelsea on Monday night. United are now back in the mix for a top four finish, but they will certainly need to finish the season strongly if they are to break into the top four. They’ll have a tough schedule in this tournament too, but it’s definitely a target for them to win something this season.
We have an open market, with the match odds at the time of writing currently trade; Club Brugge 3.0, Manchester United 2.58 and the draw is 3.45. Club Brugge are coming into the Europa League after finishing third in a Champions League group with PSG and Real Madrid. They never had a chance there! They didn’t win a game, but they did manage to draw away from home with Real Madrid when the home side were going through a rough patch. United topped their Europa League group but it wasn’t without drama and we feel that they’ll find it tough to win tonight. A draw here and get back to Old Trafford will be a good result and on balance this season, we’re happy to lay United away from home at odds like this.
BETDAQ BEST BET:
Lay Manchester United at 2.58.
You can view all markets here -> http://bit.ly/BDQCluMun
FC COPENHAGEN V CELTIC
5.55pm Celtic battled very hard to top their group and their reward is a tie against FC Copenhagen. It’s fair to say that Celtic will have been pleased with the draw as they could have faced much tougher sides. They are favourites to qualify, but they need to get the job done now. FC Copenhagen were in a relatively weak group and could only finish second behind Malmo FF. Celtic should really qualify, but as is always the way is these first legs – they would probably shake on a score draw tonight.
The match odds at the time of writing currently trade; FC Copenhagen 3.45, Celtic 2.38 and the draw is 3.35. Celtic have impressed in the Europa League this season , while FC Copenhagen could only win one game from their three here in the group stages. They were all low scoring and given the situation, we can see a very cagey game here too. Under 2.5 goals is trading 1.71 and that looks the value play here.
BETDAQ BEST BET:
Under 2.5 goals at 1.71.
You can view all markets here -> http://bit.ly/BDQCopCel
OLYMPIAKOS V ARSENAL
8pm Arsenal will no doubt fancy their chances of getting past Olympiakos but as we seen in the Champions League, Olympiakos can score goals and if Arsenal aren’t solid at the back – they will be sent packing. As always the tricky tie will be the away leg for Arsenal. Arteta seems to have settled the side down, at least now they are getting draws rather than losses. However, the away from home worry will always be there with Arsenal.
The match odds at the time of writing currently trade; Olympiakos 3.1, Arsenal 2.44 and the draw is 3.55. Arsenal hit form in the second half at the weekend against Newcastle, they banged in four goals and were impressive in doing so. However, that match came at home and Newcastle haven’t exactly been great this season. Olympiakos scored four at the weekend too and given how dodgy Arsenal are away from home – we have to lay them at 2.44. There’s going to be goals in this one, and Olympiakos can get a result with home advantage.
BETDAQ BEST BET:
Lay Arsenal at 2.44.
You can view all markets here -> http://bit.ly/BDQOlyArs
RANGERS V BRAGA
8pm Rangers will be absolutely delighted to reach this stage of the Europa League after missing out last season. They had a tough and very competitive group but grinded out plenty of good results. It was one of the most interesting groups going into the final round of fixtures. Braga were in a group with Wolves and ended up topping the group after beating Wolves away from home. This will be a tough fixture for Rangers, and they really need to win here to have any chance of going through.
The match odds at the time of writing currently trade; Rangers 2.26, Braga 3.6 and the draw is 3.45. It’s hard to see Braga being too attacking here given it’s a first leg, and Rangers home games at the group stages were always close and hard fought affairs. Under 2.5 goals won in each three of their home group games and with unders trading 1.74 here we have to back that. That looks cracking value – it’s hard to see anything but a very close game here and perhaps Rangers can grind out another 1-0 win.
BETDAQ BEST BET:
Under 2.5 goals at 1.74.
You can view all markets here -> http://bit.ly/BDQRanBra
WOLVES V ESPANYOL
8pm This is an excellent tie! Espanyol came through a reasonably tough group, with CSKA Moscow actually finishing last. It was a tighter group than Wolves who were always in a battle to see who would be first with Braga, rather than will they go through. Espanyol won twice and drew their other fixture from their three away group games, and Wolves will have to be at their best to get the win here.
The match odds at the time of writing currently trade; Wolves 1.56, Espanyol 7.4 and the draw is 4.1. We have to say that Wolves look at least ten ticks too short here at 1.56. They have had some upsets in the competition already this season, and we can see a much closer game here than the odds suggest. Espanyol were very solid away from home in the group stages and from a value point of view, we have to lay Wolves at 1.56.
BETDAQ BEST BET:
Lay Wolves at 1.56.
You can view all markets here -> http://bit.ly/BDQWolEsp
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