We have four late fixtures from the Europa League on Thursday for us to preview with you, the first is from Old Trafford where Man United welcome Real Sociedad for the return leg. The home side took the lead in Spain but a 70th minute penalty brought the game back to one a piece, Ruben Amorim’s side do have the advantage of a away goal but with the tie still in the balance we can expect a exciting contest.
The Manchester club drew at home to Arsenal at the weekend having been a goal ahead also so if they take the lead here we can expect them to put eleven men behind the ball at all times.
The visitors Real Sociedad will come into this second leg as the outsiders, Imanol Barrenetxea’s side are without a win in four games in all competitions. They lost in the Copa del Rey at home to Real Madrid (0-1), lost away to Barcelona in La Liga (4-0), then the first leg of this tie drawing at home (1-1) and then most recently a home defeat to Sevilla in the league (0-1). The Spanish side are sitting in mid-table with eleven games of the Spanish season remaining. Kick off 20.00pm Live on TNT Sports 1 and Discovery +.
Best Match Betting Odds:
Non UK Casinos: Man United 1/1, Real Sociedad 4/1 and the Draw 9/4.
Gambling Sites Not on Gamban: Man United 10/11, Real Sociedad 4/1 and the Draw 9/4.
The second fixture to look at comes from the Groupama Stadium where Lyon will welcome FCSB Bucharest, the French side have won five and drawn one of the six times this side’s have met in Europe. Paulo Fonseca’s side are 6th in Ligue 1 and with nine games remaining of the season they fill the final Europa League place for next season. They have won their last two at home to Brest (2-1) and away to Nice (0-2) so if that extends they have an outside chance of a Champions League place.
The visitors FCSB Bucharest lost the first leg 3-1 so Elias Charalambous’s side look unlikely to progress to the next stage now. They are two points clear at the top of the Romanian Super League with ten games remaining but you can see the standard difference between the French league and the Romanian League quite clearly. We expect a few goals here but we can’t see it being from the away side.
Match Betting: Lyon 2/7, FCSB Bucharest 11/1 and the Draw 11/2 Kick off 20.00pm Live on TNT Sports
The next match to look at comes from Ibrox where Rangers will host Fenerbahce, Barry Ferguson’s side shocked a few people with getting a convincing victory in Turkey last week (1-3). The Scottish side now have an enormous advantage going into the return leg here. They didn’t have a fixture at the weekend so they come here fresh and we expect them to close the tie with a win at home also.
The visitors Fenerbahce know they need to win this game so we expect Jose Mourinho’s side to attack from the get go. The Turkish side also didn’t have a fixture at the weekend so they will come here fresh. They sit 2nd in the Turkish Super Lig and with seven points behind leaders Galatasaray with only nine games remaining it looks likely they will end up being the bridesmaids. We expect Yousesef En-Nesyri to lead the line with Edin Dzeko but we can’t see them being able to turn this tie around. Kick off 20.00pm Live on TNT Sports 2.
Best Match Betting Odds:
US Gambling Sites: Rangers 8/5, Fenerbahce 13/8 and the Draw 11/4.
This final contest of the evening comes from the Tottenham Hotspurs Stadium where Tottenham will host AZ Alkmaar for the second leg. Ange Postecoglou’s side have a one goal deficit to claw back here. They managed to turn a two goal deficit around last weekend and completed the come back with a 2-2 draw here against Bournemouth. We expect Dominic Solanke to start up front here in place of Mathys Tel who did in the first leg.
The visitors AZ Alkmaar won the first leg 1-0 but it was an own goal from Lucas Bergvall that was the difference between the two sides. Maarten Martens side sit 6th in the Eredivisie and with eight games of the Dutch season remaining they are still in with a chance of finishing in the top four. They will look to keep the game tight but we feel they will be unable to keep Spurs at bay for the whole of the game.
Match Betting: Tottenham ⅖, AZ Alkmaar 6/1 and the Draw 4/1 Kick off 20.00pm Live on TNT Sports 3
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