EUROPA LEAGUE THURSDAY: The Ultra previews Thursday’s Knockout Round games with a recommended BETDAQ bet.
Knockout Round
8pm The Europa League Knockout Round Playoff second legs are upon us on Thursday night on Betdaq Betting Exchange! We had two fascinating as Stuttgart met Celtic and Nottingham Forest met Fenerbahce, but effectively they are both over after the first legs with Stuttgart winning 4-1 in Celtic Park and Nottingham Forest winning 3-0 away in Turkey. Fair to say we will need some very early goals to make things interesting here – the two sides with the big leads also have home advantage, so it’s hard to see much drama.
We begin in Stuttgart with the early kick off, where Celtic arrive with a mountain to climb. We really saw the gulf in class between the Bundesliga and the Scottish Premiership in the first leg, and it’s no surprise that Stuttgart come into the game as the hot favourites at 1.44 with Celtic 7.0 and the draw is 5.6 at the time of writing. If ever a night encapsulated the chaos of Celtic’s season so far, it was that one. The game was halted within seconds of the opening whistle when fans threw tennis balls onto the pitch in protest against the club’s board – the latest flashpoint in an ongoing dispute that also sees the Green Brigade ultras group banned from attending matches. Martin O’Neill, back for his second stint in charge of the club, was visibly furious on the bench and made his feelings crystal clear afterwards: “Anybody who thinks that is a good idea needs their heads examined.” He added that he could see Stuttgart players relax the moment they realised Celtic Park was in open conflict with itself.
What followed on the pitch was just as bad. The travelling Stuttgart support sang “Always Look on the Bright Side of Life” as the remaining Celtic fans responded with chants of “Sack the Board.” It was bizarre! I said going into that tie that Celtic needed to take something to Germany to progress; well that has gone out the window! Celtic have to attack here; there’s no other option, and Stuttgart like to play an open game anyway so we should have an entertaining end-to-end game. Over 2.5 goals is trading 1.44 which is the same price as the Stuttgart win, but I feel that offers much more value to start the night.
We finish the night with Nottingham Forest hosting Fenerbahce, and you have to feel this tie has been put to bed too with another three goal lead. After a stunning performance in Istanbul last week – Vitor Pereira’s first game in charge of the club – Forest had a nightmare at the weekend against Liverpool. Described by Jamie Carragher as putting on a first-half “horror show by Liverpool,” and Carragher went on to call the final result “one of the biggest robberies” of the Premier League season. Liverpool’s Mac Allister scored in the 89th minute, it was ruled out by VAR for handball, and then in the 97th minute the Argentine was in the right place again as Ola Aina’s desperate clearance of a Hugo Ekitike header crashed off him and into the net.
Pereira must have been absolutely furious, but he did appear exceptionally emotional on the side line during the last ten minutes – I’m not sure whether that’s a good or bad thing when you’re getting dragged into a relegation battle. West Ham drew again at the weekend, so the gap is only two points now. The first leg here was exceptionally one-sided; in a hostile atmosphere, Forest finished with a 2.86 xG from 23 attempts to Fenerbahce’s 0.48. Now with home advantage, I actually feel the 1.55 is too big on Forest given what we saw last week. I’d have the home win sub and despite all the issues, and the fact we’re onto the fourth manager, I’m happy to have a confident bet on Forest here.
The Ultra Says:
Two points win Over 2.5 goals Stuttgart v Celtic at 1.44 with BETDAQ BETTING EXCHANGE
Three points win Nottingham Forest to beat Fenerbahce at 1.55 with BETDAQ BETTING EXCHANGE.
You can view all markets here -> https://betdaq.biz/EL2026
