AccaNation.com aims to provide all users with safe, fair and regulated recommendations for which online gambling sites to use as well as fun predictions for accumulator bets. In the interest of transparency we'd like you to know that we are compensated for any traffic we send to online bookmakers.
Europa League Acca: Thursday 20th February
It is going to be a busy few weeks for the teams in the Europa League. This week sees the first leg of all 16 Round of 32 ties, with the second leg of these games taking place next week. Then after a week’s break, we will have the first leg of the Round of 16 ties, followed by the second leg a week after that. So that’s four games in the space of five weeks for teams that make it through the first round of matches.
That’s a big ask for all teams, especially those with a hope of reaching the latter stages of the competition. However, by organising it in this way, together with a staggered Round of 16 in the Champions League, it does mean that from the quarter final stage onwards, both competitions are in sync.
There are five British teams remaining in the competition, with no teams from the UK added to the draw following the end of the League Stage of the Champions League (all four teams from the UK made it into the Round of 16 in that tournament). And there are some intriguing games including Man Utd’s trip to Club Brugge, Arsenal facing Olympiakos while Rangers face a tough task against Portuguese side Braga.
We have gone through the 16 first leg ties and come up with our tips for this week’s Europa League acca below:
Club Brugge are leading the Belgian league comfortably and have conceded just 11 goals in their 25 league games in the Jupiler. They have also earned a draw away to Real Madrid and Galatasaray in the Champions League Group Stages so they are definitely not a team to be underestimated. United came through their Europa League group relatively simply, although they had a few sticky moments, but that may well have been down to relatively inexperienced teams being selected for some games. I can see Ole Gunnar Solskjaer picking a more experienced team for this game as he needs a strong showing in one of the cups and as such, I think United could sneak a narrow win to take back with them to Old Trafford.
Getafe v Ajax – Away Win
It was very surprising that last year’s beaten semifinalists in the Champions League, Ajax, failed to make it out of the Group Stages of the Champions League, instead dropping into the Europa League were they will likely be one of the favourites to lift the trophy. The Dutch side have some fine players and this looks like being the last hurrah for many of them with bids from some of European football’s top clubs likely in the summer. Getafe are no pushovers, winning four of their group games, but the Dutch side were masters at picking up results away from home last season and I can see them doing that here.
Olympiakos v Arsenal – Draw
It is fair to say that Arsenal played a fair few fringe players in the earlier rounds of this competition, but now they are into the knockout phase, I think Mikel Arteta will be fielding much stronger teams. Olympiakos away is always a tough game and while the Greeks don’t tend to travel well, they are still strong and dangerous on home soil. The Gunners are not losing many games, but they are not winning a great deal of them either and although I feel the English side, beaten finalists in this competition last season, have the better quality players in attack, I think they will pick up a draw here.
Rangers v Braga- Away Win
After a good season in general, things have started to go a little awry for Steven Gerrard’s Rangers of late. A couple of defeats in the league has left them trailing Celtic and they take on a Braga side that defeated Wolves at Molineux in Group K. Not many teams have done that and given that Braga have good experience in this competition, and the fact that they have twice beaten FC Porto and Sporting Lisbon in the last few weeks, does make me feel that they are going to be slightly too strong for a Rangers side that seem out of sorts at the present moment.
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.
all 16 Round of 32 ties, with the second leg of these games taking place next week. Then after a week’s break, we will have the first leg of the Round of 16 ties, followed by the second leg a week after that. So that’s four games in the space of five weeks for teams that make it through the first round of matches.
