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Europa League QF 1st Leg Acca – 7th April
With the short priced Champions League tip on Tuesday and Wednesday, i am happy to say that we have returned a much better odds bet for the Europa League on Thursday night.
It was a tough call in the Champions League as in at least three of the four games, I think it was pretty obvious who would win and the odds kind of reflected that.
However, rather than add a result which the statistics show is unlikely to happen, but which offers a good price just to get a better headline price for the acca isn’t a wise move I feel as I’d rather take a smaller acca and a better chance of the win, than a higher odds option with slim chance of success.
Thankfully, the Europa League offers us better odds this week and it still sees one Premier League team, West Ham and one Scottish Premier League team, Rangers, in the competition. The Hammers facing Lyon in their quarterfinal, while Rangers have the away leg against Braga to deal with before their home game next week.
The other matches see two Bundesliga sides in action, Red Bull Leipzig face Atalanta and Eintracht Frankfurt have the tough task of taking on Xavi’s new look Barcelona team who seem to have found form under their former midfield superstar.
In truth, all four games should be intriguing contests and with the semifinals all decided, we know that the winner of the Frankfurt/Barcelona clash will face either West Ham or Lyon, with the other semifinal being between the winners of the other two legs.
It should be an interesting Thursday night of action and here are my tips for the four games.
Atalanta produced a superb result to beat another German team, Bayer Leverkusen, in the last round, winning home and away and the Italians will be confident of doing likewise against a Leipzig team that have lost their way a little after losing a number of players over the last couple of years. However, while the German side do ship goals defensively, they are also very dangerous going forward with N’Kunku in particular proving particularly prolific in Europe this season. I was tempted by the draw here and you can make a case for an Atalanta win, but I just feel after receiving the bye into the quarter final Red Bull should be better rested for this game and I think with home advantage they’ll take a narrow lead into the second leg.
Braga v Rangers – Draw
I will be the first to admit that Rangers have surprised me in this competition this season. I have tipped them to lose a few times (and to win a couple too) and they have proven to be more resilient than I expected. They won’t be too unhappy drawing a Braga side in the quarterfinals, but the Portuguese team are no pushovers as they proved in beating AS Monaco and Benfica in recent weeks. They last met in February 2020 when Rangers won 1-0 in Portugal and then 3-2 at home to progress in this competition and their fans would certainly take the same results once again here. However, I think this one may be the closest of all the quarterfinals and I reckon that we will likely see a 1-1 draw here.
Eintracht Frankfurt v Barcelona – Away Win
What an intriguing game lies in store here between two teams who have not lost in their last five games, Barcelona winning all of those ties including a 4-0 win over Real Madrid at the Bernebeu. Frankfurt though are no pushovers, especially at home and they will be confident of being able to get something from this game. The problem they have is that I think they are running into a Barcelona team that is finding its best form of the season and also a degree of consistency that they have not previously had. Xavi and his new signings have made a big impression at the club already and I think that they will have enough quality to perhaps pick up a win on the road here as they have against Napoli and Galatasaray in the past two rounds.
West Ham v Lyon – Home Win
West Ham’s superb season sees they face Lyon in their first European Quarter Final for many years. The French side have been one of the top performers in the Europa League this season, so this will not be an easy draw for the Hammers, but after knocking out Sevilla in the last round, David Moyes men won’t fear anybody. You do feel with the second leg in Lyon, the edge for the win in the whole two-legged tie is with the French side, but I think West Ham can do enough to take an advantage into the second leg by securing a narrow win at home.
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.
say that we have returned a much better odds bet for the Europa League on Thursday night.
