Thursday Europa League betting preview
Unirea Urziceni v Liverpool, 6pm
While Chelsea take to the lush pitch at the San Siro on Wednesday night in the Champions League, Liverpool will have to contend with a half-empty stadium in Steaua the following evening after failing to make the knockout stages of Europe’s blue riband club event. Although the Reds will clearly suffer financially from dropping down to the Europa League, they stand a far greater chance of success in this competition and should oblige at odds of 4/5 (Stan James – £25 Free Bets) by winning this second leg. After all, the visitors contained Manchester City on Sunday and should at the very least be capable of keeping a clean sheet (5/4 Sky Bet – £10 Free Bet) and protecting the 1-0 lead generated in the first leg at Anfield.
One should also not that Unirea don’t strictly have home advantage for this match, having to play their European matches at Steaua Bucharest’s stadium instead. Their approach to the first leg last week was ultra-defensive, although the Romanian champions will have to come out of their shells in this match and they are 9/2 (William Hill – £25 Free Bets) to win the match. Sporting Bet have probably underrated Ronny Levy’s team with their 13/2 quote that more misery is heaped on Liverpool’s season with a last-32 exit, although we should remember that Steven Gerrard (5/1 Ladbrokes – £25 Free Bets) and Jamie Carragher won this competition back in 2001. David Ngog was the match-winner in the first leg and the Frenchman makes appeal at 6/1 (Paddy Power – £20 Free Bets) to break the deadlock.
Sporting v Everton, 8.05pm
Despite conceding a late away goal last Thursday and having a mounting injury and suspension list, Everton are still warm favourites (4/7 bet365 – £200 Free Bets) to be playing Atletico Madrid or Galatasaray in the last sixteen of the Europa League. The Toffees should be really out of sight after dominating the first leg, although it’s just the slender one-goal advantage for David Moyes’ team. They will need to go forth and attack in Portugal, with Mikel Arteta (16/1 Ladbrokes – £25 Free Bets) catching the eye on the First Goalscorer list, especially with the Spaniard likely to be dangerous from set pieces. The manager will also be hoping that Louis Saha (13/2 Stan James – £25 Free Bets) can make a nuisance of himself.
However, with Distin, Fellaini, Heitinga and Cahill all missing, it promises to be a nervy encounter. Although Sporting are in rotten form, many might think the 6/4 (bet365 bookmakers) about them winning on the night is a big price, while they probably shouldn’t be 13/8 (Sky Bet online) to qualify from the tie considering a 1-0 victory (13/2 Boylesports - £20 Free Bets) will be enough to see them deprive their opponents the progress they desire.
Shakhtar Donetsk v Fulham, 6pm
While Liverpool and Everton are the higher-profile matches in the media, this is arguably the most intriguing tie of all, with the Cottagers looking to pull off an upset by knocking out the Europa League holders. Fulham managed a 2-1 win in last Thursday’s first leg and they are 6/4 (Stan James online betting) to qualify in the Ukraine this week, something which is always possible when the likes of Damien Duff (16/1 Paddy Power) and Bobby Zamora (9/1 Paddy Power bookmakers) are on the pitch. The pair produced moments of magic to beat Birmingham on Sunday and the visitors will almost certainly need an away goal if they are to go through.
