EUROPA LEAGUE PREVIEW: Our European football tipster The Ultra previews Thursday’s Europa League games starting with REAL SOCIEDAD v MANCHESTER UNITED – all with a recommended BETDAQ bet.
REAL SOCIEDAD V MANCHESTER UNITED
5.55pm The Europa League returns on Thursday and we start with a cracker! Real Sociedad host Man United at a neutral venue in what should be the highlight of the night. Unfortunately for United fans they threw away their chance to be in the Last 16 of the Champions League, but they must have a realistic chance of winning this competition whereas they were never going to be good enough to win the Champions League. They haven’t been perfect in the Premier League this season, but they have definitely improved from last season. Although they were never playing like Champions, they never up leading the table when other sides were dropping points, however they have dropped their level in recent weeks and that has to be a massive worry heading into this fixture.
You might say that Sociedad has a reasonably similar season to United. They started very strongly and lead the table for a while but have fallen away. Their fall has been a lot more dramatic than United, but they are still holding onto fifth place with the hopes of top four gone. United were very poor at the weekend against West Brom; only creating an xG of 0.61 and we know how bad West Brom have been this season. The United lay is a very tempting bet, however under 2.5 goals jumps off the page here at around 2.0. That looks very good value in what should be a tight game. I can’t see either team being very attacking from the start.
The Ultra Says:
Two points win Under 2.5 goals at 2.0 on BETDAQ Betting Exchange
You can view all markets here -> http://bit.ly/BDQSocMun
WOLFSBERGER AC V TOTTENHAM
5.55pm Another neutral venue game and Spurs will welcome the change in competition. Jose Mourinho and his men are having a very tough time in the Premier League at the moment – of course things can always get worse as they could crash out of this competition, but they should get through here against weaker opposition. Wolfsberger play their football in Austria and they aren’t having a good season either – they currently sit in sixth position in a 12 team league, 16 points off the leaders after 17 games. I can’t imagine many football fans watch the Austrian Bundesliga but you can imagine the standard isn’t high and Wolfsberger are only a mid-table side.
This should be a straightforward win for Spurs if they can get their act together and ignore all the negativity from England at the moment. It will be fascinating to see how Mourinho copes with the dip in form – he usually loses the dressing room! The xG figures from Wolfsberger in this competition are pretty poor, especially going forward, and that’s a very good sign for Spurs as they have been conceding too many goals lately. Perhaps this is a game for small stakes given how Spurs have played in the Premier League but they are worth backing at 2.15 HT/FT in a game they should dominate.
The Ultra Says:
One point win Tottenham/Tottenham HT/FT at 2.15 with BETDAQ Betting Exchange
You can view all markets here -> http://bit.ly/BDQWlfTot
SLAVIA PRAGUE V LEICESTER
5.55pm Next up we have Slavia Prague hosting Leicester and this is my best bet of the night. Leicester have been excellent this season and the 2.16 on BETDAQ Betting Exchange just looks too big here. Slavia Prague were decent when coming second in a Group with Bayer Leverkusen but the other two sides were very weak – Nice are down in 14th in Ligue 1 in France. Leicester had some issues in their Group but they topped it and rested plenty of players. Obviously that is a worry here as they could opt to rest some of their stars given they have the chance of Champions League football next season. They are four points clear in third however so they can have a go at winning this competition.
Having seen both sides play in this competition this season, personally I would have Leicester odds on. I don’t see anything to fear from Slavia Prague given how good Leicester have been – I know Liverpool have been under-par lately but Leicester put them to the sword in the second half at the weekend with a 3-1 win. My main worry backing Leicester is that they have been conceding a lot of chances lately looking at their xG figures but the price of 2.16 makes up for that risk and they are well worth backing.
The Ultra Says:
Three points win Leicester to beat Slavia Prague at 2.16 with BETDAQ Betting Exchange
You can view all markets here -> http://bit.ly/BDQSlaLei
BENFICA V ARSENAL
8pm Another fascinating match and betting heat! British football fans would have saw a lot of Benfica already in this competition as they had a great battle with Rangers in the Group stages. They finished second behind Rangers in Group D, but it must be said that the other two sides in the Group were pretty weak. That’s obviously good news for Arsenal fans, but again the same question applies to most Arsenal games – do you trust them enough to back them away from home? They have been very poor in the Premier League this season; although they do come into this game after a nice win at the weekend against Leeds.
Benfica are a solid European side, but they are limited and Arsenal should get the job done. Benfica are only fourth in Portugal, 13 points behind the leaders after 19 games. I don’t trust Arsenal enough to invest a decent amount, even at 2.44, however in this situation I feel they are worth a small bet. They can be very frustrating, but 2.44 is a nice value bet to beat an average Benfica side. Benfica given up plenty of chances, and as we seen with Leeds the weekend, when teams play an open game against Arsenal they can get punished. The ideal thing to do against Arsenal is play a tight game and put them under pressure; they still don’t handle that well and how many managers have they gone through now! All that being said, Arsenal do enjoy this competition and they sailed through the Group stages.
The Ultra Says:
One point win Arsenal to beat Benfica at 2.44 with BETDAQ Betting Exchange
You can view all markets here -> http://bit.ly/BDQBenArs
ROYAL ANTWERP V RANGERS
8pm Once again British football fans will remember Royal Antwerp as they managed to beat Spurs in the Group stages! That win for Antwerp turned out to be massive as it got them into second. Rangers topped their Group after a ding dong battle with Benfica, and they have been enjoying some success in this competition recently – especially for their level of domestic football. They will have been pleased with the draw – Spurs played a weakened side when they lost to Antwerp and Mourinho threw his toys out of the pram afterwards.
Rangers have been impressive this season. They already have the Scottish Premiership won, a whopping 18 points ahead of Celtic. Obviously that is a low standard, but they have bossed their games with Celtic and created some decent chances in this competition too. I feel this is a game for low stakes again, but Rangers should really beat this average Antwerp side and the 2.0 is worth taking. Antwerp gave away a host of chances looking at their xG figures from the Europa League this season, and Rangers should get plenty of opportunities to score.
The Ultra Says:
One point win Rangers to beat Royal Antwerp at 2.0 with BETDAQ Betting Exchange
You can view all markets here -> http://bit.ly/BDQAntRan
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