Football betting tips: Europa League and Conference League
17:45 – Brann vs Rangers – UEL
1.5pts Rangers +0.5 Asian Handicap at 5/6 (bet365)
20:00 – Crystal Palace vs AEK Larnaca – UECL
1pt Chris Richards to score anytime at 17/2 (Coral, Ladbrokes)
1pt Maxence Lacroix to score anytime at 9/1 (Ladbrokes)
20:00 – Celtic vs Sturm Graz – UEL
1.5pts Sturm Graz +1.0 Asian Handicap at 9/10 (bet365)
Sky Bet odds | Paddy Power | Betfair
Brann vs Rangers
Joe Townsend
Congratulations are in order, Rangers finally have a new manager.
After being publicly jilted by Steven Gerrard and Kevin Muscat, former Sheffield Wednesday boss Danny Rohl was appointed; they wanted him all along apparently.
The young German coach will have learned plenty from his first managerial stint that ought to serve him well at Ibrox. Having walked into a crisis at Hillsborough that only worsened off the pitch he continued to deliver remarkable improvements on it before leaving of his own accord in the summer.
Of course, the pressure of managing the Old Firm is enormous, but given just how badly it went for his predecessor, it’s quite a nice situation for Rohl to walk in to.
Rangers did produce some diabolical performances under Russell Martin, a 9-1 aggregate thrashing by Club Brugge stands out, but this is far from unsalvageable.
The biggest problem was their former manager’s dogmatic approach making it far too easy for the opposition to score, with increasing pressure and individual errors causing a complete disintegration in player confidence.
But they have lost only one of their eight Premiership fixtures, and even in the Europa League, while they have lost both matches, Rangers were hardly disgraced in a 1-0 home defeat by Genk when down to 10 men from the 41st minute and in a 2-1 loss away to Sturm Graz.
Rohl will be confident of quickly getting his team on the right side of these fine margins with a more adaptable, pragmatic style of play.
While Brann may have won their past five home matches, an away trip to a Norwegian club is far from unwinnable.
RANGERS are huge outsiders at 13/5 and while I won’t go quite that far, I do like taking them on the +0.5 ASIAN HANDICAP at 5/6 which is essentially the same bet as the win-draw double chance, but at a better price.
Crystal Palace vs AEK Larnaca
Jake Osgathorpe
Crystal Palace are 10/3 to win the Conference League, so it’s only right they are a best-priced 2/11 to win their first home game against AEK Larnaca – even if the Cypriot side beat AZ Alkmaar 4-0 in their opener.
On that occasion their Dutch opponents were reduced to 10-men after just two minutes, making it a comfortable evening, this will be anything but.
Palace’s forwards are understandably short to score here, but their defenders are still a generous price in a game they are expected to score at least twice, so that’s an avenue to attack.
Larnaca conceded a set-piece goal in all four of their Europa League qualifiers, highlighting a potential weakness, and while AZ were down to 10, three of their six shots came from dead-balls.
It’s clearly an area of weakness, and something Palace can exploit. The Eagles rank as the best team in the Premier League from set-pieces, racking up the most xG (5.84) of any side, so we have to back their centre-backs.
Marc Guehi has a goal to his name this season and is averaging 0.10 xG per 90, but his best price of 9/1 comes with BetMGM and Virgin Bet, with bet365 next best at 6/1, so he’s left out of the staking plan though it goes without saying if you can get on with the firms at 9/1 then take it.
MAXENCE LACROIX is yet to score this season but has tested the opposition goalkeeper twice, while last season he found the net once and averaged 0.10 xG per 90. At 9/1 with Ladbrokes and Coral he has to be backed TO SCORE ANYTIME, with 17/2 available on William Hill also fine.
The other of Palace’s three centre-backs, should they all start, is CHRIS RICHARDS, and at 17/2 (Coral, Ladbrokes) and 8/1 (William Hill, BetVictor) he’s also value.
He’s scored once already this season in the Carabao Cup from a corner, and can double his tally here in a game where Palace should dominate territory and rack up the corners.
Celtic vs Sturm Graz
Jake Osgathorpe
STURM GRAZ have the chance to do an Old Firm double in back-to-back Europa League games as they head to Glasgow a few weeks on from beating Rangers 2-1 in Austria.
They now take on a Celtic side completely out of sorts, one that is yet to win the Europa League. Brendan Rodgers’ side have in fact won just one of their last five, that coming thanks to a 92nd minute winner, with the Bhoys really struggling.
Celtic host Sturm Graz fresh from a 2-0 defeat away at Dundee, and this game could be the meat of a terrible sandwich with a trip to Scottish Premiership leaders Hearts on Sunday.
It could be a miserable week, and Sturm Graz are capable of being a part of it, and there is value in backing them +1.0 ASIAN HANDICAP here.
This bet means we get a full pay-out should the visitors avoid defeat, money back if they lose by one goal and a full loss if Celtic win by two or more.
The Austrians did lose 2-0 at Midtjylland in their first UEL game but were unfortunate to do so in what was a tight game (xG:
Celtic meanwhile haven’t covered this handicap eight of their last nine matches, and the only time they did was a League Cup game against Championship side Partick Thistle.
They’ve been poor in both Europa League games to date, creating very little against Braga in their last home game, and more of the same wouldn’t be a surprise.
Odds correct at 1600 BST (22/10/25)
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