Thursday night’s European action sees plenty of British and Irish action. In the early kickoffs in the Europa League, Rangers are away to Ferencvaros, and Nottingham Forest are off to Utrecht. In the later games, Celtic host Roma, Aston Villa travel to Basel, and it’s Ireland v England when Shelfbourne entertain Crystal Palace in the Conference League.
PP news football tipster Paddy Murphy has dived into the markets to find some value in the markets. Let’s get his picks.
Thursday’s European Football tips
5:45pm Ferencvaros v Rangers – Both teams to score, yes
5:45pm Utrecht v Nottingham Forest – Draw
8pm Celtic v Roma – Celtic and draw
8pm Basel v Aston Villa – Both Teams to Score & Over 2.5 goals
8pm Shelbourne v Crystal Palace – Crystal Palace to win & both teams to score
An Accumulator with these bets pays at approximately 47/1 with Paddy Power. CLICK HERE TO ADD IT TO YOUR BETSLIP.
Ferencvaros v Rangers – Both teams to score, yes
Europa League match at the Groupama Arena, Budapest
TV: TNT Sports, 5:45pm
Robbie Keane’s Ferencvaros are enjoying a great run of form at home; they’ve won four of their last five at the Groupama Arena. Indeed, they’ve lost just one of their last nine played there.
Their Europa League form is strong as well; they have yet to be defeated this season and sit sixth in the standings, with three wins and two draws.
Rangers, on the flip side, are still searching for their first win in the competition, having drawn one and lost four. Their form has improved significantly since changing manager, with just three losses under Danny Rohl’s tutelage.
The Glasgow side needs at least two wins from their remaining games to have any chance of making the knockout stages, and having nothing to lose here in going for it.
Ferencvaros should come out on top; their record and the fact that they’re playing at home should see them over the line, but Rangers are proving tough to beat under Rohl, so a Both Teams to Score, Yes, is the best play here.
Utrecht v Nottingham Forest – Draw
Europa League match at Stadion Galgenwaard, Utrecht
TV: TNT Sports, 5:45pm
Utrecht have been pretty awful in competition so far, drawing one and losing four, but it’s not like Nottingham Forest have been great on their travels in Europe, drawing all three of their away game thus far.
The Dutch side has lost just twice at home this season, both of which were 0-1 losses, and one was to Lyon, so we cannot be too harsh on them. They scored eight over their last five at home, so you’d have to expect them to get one here.
Sean Dyche’s side looked to have turned a corner, beating Leeds, Liverpool, and Malmo, but then lost to Brighton, no surprise there, beating Wolves, everyone beats Wolves, and then going 3-0 down to Everton last weekend. Dyche’s teams, as always, are consistently inconsistent.
He will demand a response after the hiding at the weekend, though, and that means they’ll be setting up, as usual, not to lose. This has “dour 1-1” written all over it.
Celtic v Roma – Celtic and draw
Europa League match at Celtic Park, Glasgow
TV: TNT Sports, 8pm
Both sides come into this within touching distance of the Last 16 places, but a loss won’t help anyone’s cause. There’s also the added annoyance for Celtic that they’re facing St Mirren in the Scottish League Cup Final on Sunday.
Interestingly, none of Celtic’s last 18 home Europa League games have ended in a draw, and the Bhoys have had only two draws at Celtic Park this season across all competitions.
Roma had done incredibly well to stay abreast with Inter in the early stages of the Serie A, but their lack of consistent goal scorers was evident, and it’s seen them falling now to fourth. Ukrainian striker Artem Dovbyk will miss this due to injury, and Evan Ferguson just hasn’t delivered over his 10 games so far.
European nights at Celtic Park are special, there’s no doubt about that. They can rely on their home form here, the home crowd too, and with a lack of goals among the opposition, they shouldn’t be losing.
Basel v Aston Villa – Both Teams to Score & Over 2.5 goals
Europa League match at St Jakob-Park, Basel
TV: TNT Sports, 8pm
Basel have been rather inconsistent in the Europa League to date, thanks to two wins and three losses. Both of those wins did come at home, though.
The Swiss side is always strong at home; indeed, they’ve lost only two of their 10 home games this season and have scored eight goals over their last six at the St Jakob.
Favourites to land the trophy, Aston Villa, are third in the standings with four wins and one loss, and they’re enjoying some incredible form under Unai Emery of late. Their win over Premier League leaders Arsenal at the weekend means they’re just three points behind the leaders.
The Villans have won all seven of their most recent games, but on the road, have won three and lost two of their last five.
This will be a strong test for Villa; Basel are a tough nut to crack, but Villa have hit form, scoring 15 goals over their last six fixtures. We could go with Overs here, but BTTS & Overs have the more appealing odds.
Shelbourne v Crystal Palace – Crystal Palace to win & both teams to score
Europa Conference League match at Tallagh Stadium, Dublin
TV: TNT Sports, 8pm
For obvious reasons, the home side will be fired up for this. It would be the stuff of dreams to take an English scalp at home, and Joey O’Brien’s side will have had plenty of time to prepare for this. UK readers might not be aware that, with the League of Ireland season finished, Shels are only involved in European action now.
But while the heart might want a Shels win, the head says it’s rather unlikely. Crystal Palace are fourth in the Premier League, and Shelbourne finished third in the League of Ireland.
The away side are coming into this on the back of beating Fulham and Burnley, and were unlucky to lose to Manchester United beforehand. Away from home, they’ve won four of their last five.
The hosts have played six European games as the ‘home’ side – four of their games were played at their actual home, Tolka Park, two were played at Shamrock Rover’s Tallagh Stadium, and while they scored in all but one of their Tolka Road games, they’ve failed to score in both of their Tallagh Stadium games, much to the delight of Shamrock Rovers fans.
Third time’s a charm, though, and Oliver Glasner will surely rotate his starting XI with one eye on Palace’s upcoming Premier League clash with Manchester City on Sunday.
Palace will surely win, but Shels have nothing to lose here, and we can see them getting one on the board.
Thursday’s European Football tips
5:45pm Ferencvaros v Rangers – Both teams to score, yes
5:45pm Utrecht v Nottingham Forest – Draw
8pm Celtic v Roma – Celtic and draw
8pm Basel v Aston Villa – Both Teams to Score & Over 2.5 goals
8pm Shelbourne v Crystal Palace – Crystal Palace to win & both teams to score
An Accumulator with these bets pays at approximately 47/1 with Paddy Power. CLICK HERE TO ADD IT TO YOUR BETSLIP.
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