Home » Europa League Tips – Matchday 1 – 8th September
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Europa League Tips – Matchday 1 – 8th September
With the first set of Champions League group stage games now in the history books, our attention tonight turns to the second most prestigious competition in European club football, the Europa League.
Last year’s winners, Eintracht Frankfurt beat Rangers in the final and both of those teams progressed into the Champions League this season, so the quality of teams in this tournament, especially with the introduction of the Europa Conference League, is much improved in recent times.
This year’s tournament sees a number of top teams competing including the likes of Arsenal, Manchester United, Monaco, Lazio, Feyenoord, PSV Eindhoven, AS Roma, Real Betis and Real Sociedad, plus from the new year, the eight teams that finish third in their groups in the Champions League will drop into this tournament.
The draw for the tournament has put together some interesting match ups, Manchester United and Real Sociedad meet again for the second time in two years in the group stage, while Arsenal will face off against PSV Eindhoven in their group.
For the last few years, the Europa League has been more generous to me than the Champions League most of the time, although quite why that is the case I am not so sure. However, I am hoping that will continue across the games we back this year.
So without any further ado, let’s take a look at the games I’ve put together for my Europa League acca this week.
When FC Zurich qualified for this competition last season, few would have expected them to be kicking off their Europe League Group Stage campaign sitting at the foot of the Swiss league and without a win in six games. Similarly, not many would have expected Arsenal to be top of the Premier League after six games. Given the contrasting fortunes of both these teams this season, it is hard to see any other result than an Arsenal win here, even if the Gunners were to rest a number of first teamers for this game.
Ludogoretz Razgrad v AS Roma – Away Win
A few years ago, Ludogoretz produced one of the biggest shocks in the Champions League when they defeated Barcelona in the Nou Camp. Since then the team has fallen away and now finds themselves in the Europa League and up against one of the teams much fancied to go deep into this tournament this season. Jose Mourinho has spent wisely this summer on his AS Roma side and has propelled them into the battle for the top spot in Serie A. With the addition of Paulo Dybala, he gives Roma’s attack an added edge though I am not sure he will play in this one. Even so, the Italians should have more than enough quality to get the win in this one.
Red Star Belgrade v AS Monaco – Home Win
AS Monaco have had something of a stuttering start in Ligue 1 this season and playing Nice late on Sunday night won’t be the ideal preparation for them for this game. Red Star Belgrade are a team that isn’t packed with recognisable world class talent, but they are a dominant force in the Serbian League and in recent years they have landed some big wins at home, perhaps most memorably against Liverpool. If Monaco were in form, I may have been tempted to go for them for the win here, but their form is so patchy that I think it is a huge ask to fly out to Belgrade after a late away game on Sunday and then get a result. As such, I think Red Star land a narrow home win here.
Man Utd v Real Sociedad – Draw
Last year these two teams played out a 0-0 draw at Old Trafford, followed by a 4-0 win for Manchester United in Spain in what was one of their best away performances of the season. Sociedad have started the season well and warmed up for this game with a 1-1 draw at home to Atletico Madrid. United have won their last three games ahead of their Sunday clash with Arsenal and the feeling is that United are slowly getting some semblance of form back. However, Sociedad are a team well capable of exploiting their defensive weaknesses on the counter and as such, I am backing the Spanish side to repeat the result of last season and earn a draw here.
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.
attention tonight turns to the second most prestigious competition in European club football, the Europa League.
