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Europa League Acca – 18th March 2021
We were so close to landing our Europa League accumulator last week! Three out of the four results were bang on the money, even the draw between Manchester United and AC Milan and the one result that didn’t quite go our way was the Slavia Prague v Rangers game.
Prague actually took the lead early on in that game and I felt then that things could well be going our way, as indeed they did in the other games. However, despite pressuring in the 2nd half, the Czech side couldn’t manage it and we fell just short of a £230+ payout. Gah!
What makes it all the more frustrating is that I had flip-flopped on deciding whether to back Rangers for the draw here given their excellent European record and with hindsight, that would have been the smart move.
Hey ho, we move on and I think we have another good chance of landing a winner this week with the second leg of those games. I’ve mixed up my picks a bit this week as the odds were not that great on some of the matches featuring the British based teams, so the selection is a bit more varied.
I’ve still gone for two English teams, Arsenal who take on Olympiakos in their second leg, and Manchester United, whose tie with AC Milan is delicately poised after the exciting first leg at Old Trafford on Thursday.
Alongside those I’ve gone for the Spanish side Granada, who face Molde in the second leg of their tie in Norway as well as AS Roma, who were strong winners in the first leg against a lacklustre Shakhtar Donetsk.
Here’s my selections for this week’s Europa League ties.
Arsenal left it a little late to claim a big win in Greece, but they managed it thanks to late goals from Gabriel and Elneny to add to Odegaard’s opener. That puts Arsenal in a great position ahead of the home tie and I think a two-goal deficit is markely more comfortable for the Gunners than a single goal. The Greek side overcame a 1-0 first leg defeat to win 2-1 in the away leg last season in London, but I don’t think they are going to be able to do the same here. Arsenal can now sit back and play the way they did in Greece and I think that moves this game markedly in their favour and as such, I expect them to win the home leg too, quite comfortably tell the truth.
Molde (0) v (2) Granada – Away Win
Molde will be without the suspended midfielder Martin Ellingsen for the second leg of this tie and his absence will be a blow to the Norwegians who are already down 20 from the first leg. Molina and Soldado, the former Spurs striker, scored the goals to h and Granada that big win and I think that they are going to be able to sit back and pick off Molde on the counter attack in Norway here. Molde have done well to get this far in the tournament and they will make it tough for Granada here, but I do feel the Spanish side have more quality and will land a narrow victory on the road too.
Shakhtar Donetsk (0) v (3) AS Roma – Away Win
I have to admit to being very surprised by how poor Shakhtar were in this game. Despite having much more possession and they couldn’t turn that into meaningful chances. Roma, on the other hand, were much more clinical and dangerous when they had the ball and were well-deserving 3-0 winners on the night. I think the Ukrainian team will be a very different prospect at home, but I also feel that the fact they need to attack will play into Roma’s hands once again and I think that is very dangerous as that is essentially what happened in the first leg. This one will be closer but I am still backing Roma to land the win.
AC Milan (1) v (1) Manchester United – Away Win
Manchester United’s incredible away record in the Premier League has largely been matched in Europe, with just a couple of notable away defeats in the group stages of the Champions League apart. Milan should have a number of key men back for the second leg, including Zlatan Ibrahimovic but I also feel that United are a far better side on the road. The pace of their wide players are going to cause Milan plenty of problems and even though Milan have home advantage and will be stronger with players coming back into the team, I still feel that it will be United that land the victory to progress into the next round of the tournament.
Author: Dean Wyatt
Dean Wyatt is the founder and editor here at Acca Nation. He’s been betting sports for over 20 years and is a profitable sports trader on the exchanges.
the four results were bang on the money, even the draw between Manchester United and AC Milan and the one result that didn’t quite go our way was the Slavia Prague v Rangers game.
