While the Champions League dominates the action across Tuesday and Wednesday night this week with the second legs of the quarterfinals, on Thursday we turn our attention to the other two competitions beginning with this set of tips for the Europa League.
The first leg games produced some very tight games, which means that heading into the second legs this week, all eight teams will feel that they have a decent chance of making progress into the semifinals.
Check out bet365 Sport for a fantastic selection of Europa League bets this week and throughout the rest of the competition with well over 100 markets available for each game.
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Remember too that we have used bet365 odds in this post, but those odds may have changed in the run up to the kick off of the games this week.
Let’s now quickly recap how each of the first legs in the four Europa League quarterfinals turned out before we turn our attention to this week’s second leg ties.
For the opening 45 minutes of this game, Jose Mourinho’s masterclass had worked well. AS Roma had sat back, absorbed the pressure that the Dutch league leaders threw at them and tried to counter on the home side when they won possession back.
Feyenoord huffed and puffed in the first half but could not find a way to break through, meaning Rui Patricio had an easy 45 minutes in the Italians goal.
Just before half time, Roma had a fantastic chance to take the lead when Wieffer was adjudged to have handled the ball in the box but Pellegrini’s spot kick hit the post.
That seemed to wake the home side up as nine minutes into the second half, when Wieffer made amends with a fantastic volley from 25 yards out from a neat pass from Idrissi.
Late on Roma went close again when Ibanez’s header was cleared off the line and against the bar by Idrissi, allowing the home side to take a narrow lead into the second leg.
In what was a hugely entertaining game in Germany, the Belgian side Union St. Gilloise will perhaps feel they hold the advantage after holding Leverkusen to a 1-1 draw at the BayArena.
After looking dangerous in the first. half, Boniface eventually did put the Belgian side in front after 51 minutes and in truth he had given the German side plenty of warning that he was likely to find the net at some point.
That provoked a strong response from Leverkusen who poured forward looking for the equaliser and after seeing several gilt-edged chances go by, often stymied by offside decisions, midfielder Florian Wirtz curled home a fantastic equalizer.
Late on in the game Demirbay and Azmoun both also went very close for the home side as they almost clinched the winner, but after a pulsating first leg, a draw was a fair result and sets up what should be an equally absorbing game in Belgium on Thursday night.
Juventus have their goalkeeper to thank for a 1-0 lead to take into the second leg in Lisbon after a nervy and somewhat fragmented performance against Lisbon in Turin. The Portuguese side had much more of the game and will wonder how they did not land an equaliser in the first leg.
Goalkeepers were on top in a rather dour first half with Adan making a fine save from Chiesa’s curling effort to keep Juventus out, before Szczesny produced two saves from Coates and Pote.
Szczesny was subbed through injury near the end of the first half, with Perin coming in for the Pole and it wasn’t until another tranche of substitutions in the second half that the game sprung to life.
The only goal of the game came on 73 minutes when Vlahovic reacted quicker to the ball than Aden, prodding it towards goal only for Coates to block, but the ball ran to Gatti who put the home side in front.
However, it took two incredible saves from Perin at the death to preserve that lead as he saved point blank from Pote and then got across to stop Bellerin’s attempted finish just moments later with the ex-Arsenal man seemingly certain to score.
Manchester United will probably feel a little bewildered how they are not taking a 2-0 lead into the second leg in Spain in a game that they dominated for the opening 80 minutes or more, but as I said last week, there is something magic about Sevilla and the results that they can get in this competition.
It all began so well for United as they raced into a 2-0 lead on the back of a fine first half display. Sabitzer scoring his first two goals for the club in timely fashion.
Had United played similarly in the second half, they would have undoubtedly extended that lead but their performance levels dropped as Sevilla made some tactical changes and then the final six or so minutes of the game saw a huge change.
First, Tyrell Malacia deflected a driven low cross into his own net on 84 minutes and then eight minutes later in injury time, a header at goal deflected off Harry Maguire, wrong footing de Gea and handing Sevilla an unexpected draw.
All of which means the second leg ties this week should be hugely entertaining!
Feyenoord hold the advantage from the first leg, but AS Roma will be confident that they can at least level the tie, if not win it on home soil.
The Italians have a good home record in recent times and that is something that Feyenoord will have to overcome. The Dutch side though are well clear at the top of the Eredivisie, so I don’t think they will be too fazed here.
However, I do feel AS Roma will land a win in this game, but only by one goal which may mean we need extra time or even penalties to decide who goes through.
Prediction – AS Roma 2-1 Feyenoord – 7/1
Manchester United fans will scarcely believe their side are level going into the away leg, but they have seen their team produce some fantastic performances in Spain before this season, where they have beaten Sociedad, Betis and Barcelona in previous rounds.
Sevilla will know they got fortunate at Old Trafford, not so much coming back into the game in the second half, but the way their goals went in via deflections was more than a touch fortunate.
However, on home soil, I expect Sevilla to be a much more potent offensive force, but that may also play into United’s hands and I can see this game being another that heads into extra time.
Prediction – Sevilla 1-1 Manchester United – 6/1
Juventus earned a narrow win thanks to some opportune finishing and brilliant goalkeeping in the first leg, but they’ll have to play better in the second leg at the Jose Alvelade stadium in Lisbon.
Sporting will feel they showed enough in that away leg to deserve at least a draw, so they may well be confident heading into this game.
However, Juventus better performances in the knockout phase of this competition have come on the road at Nantes and Freiburg and I can see the Italians having enough ability on the counter to get the result they need to go through here.
Prediction – Sporting Lisbon 2-2 Juventus – 16/1
If you are a football purist then this is the game to watch on Thursday night if you can as these two teams produced a cracker in the first leg.
The Belgian side certainly gave as much as they took in Germany and on home soil, they should be confident of getting a result, especially when you consider their excellent recent form and lengthy unbeaten run.
Leverkusen though are also on a good run of unbeaten games so this is a game which could very much go either way.
However, Union drew with Union Berlin before beating them 3-0 in the home leg and I think the Belgian team could spring a surprise here too.
Prediction – Union St. Gilloise 2-1 Bayer Leverkusen – 11/1
Join us again tomorrow when we finish our preview of the European Quarter Final second leg ties with a look at what happened last week and could happen this week in the Europa Conference League.
And check out our European Champions League tips by following the link too!
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