Football Accumulator Tips: Thursday 7/1 Treble backs Aston Villa to Win

Atalanta vs Sporting CP – Over 2.5 Goals & Both Teams to Score 

This could be an exciting match as two top teams from their respective domestic leagues face off in this Europa League round of 16 second leg encounter. The first leg ended in a 1-1 draw in Portugal, with the woodwork being hit four times.

Rubén Amorin has led Sporting to unprecedented success this year. They have only lost four games all season, the last coming against Braga in January.

Porto’s spirited performance against Arsenal on Tuesday in the Champions League is testament to how strong this Lisbon side is as they sit seven points clear of Porto with a game in hand in the Liga Portugal.

Atlanta has hit a rocky patch, failing to win in their previous five games against tough opponents such as Juventus, league leaders Inter Milan, AC Milan, and Sporting Lisbon. 

Four of these games were also away from home, so there are certainly reasons for the poor performance. Before this tough run of fixtures, Atalanta won six in a row and had 11 wins in 13 straight fixtures.

Both teams definitely have a lot of talent, and I anticipate seeing some fantastic football when they face off tonight.

I don't see either of these teams leaving the field without a goal tonight. Atalanta has 14 goals in their last five home games (2.8 average), and Lisbon has 14 in their last five road games (2.8 average). 

Both teams have scored in five of Lisbon's previous five games, and four of Atalanta's last five. 
With this in mind, given the strength of both teams and their equally prolific scoring records, I believe both will score tonight and there will be ovr 2.5 goals.

Rangers vs Benfica – Rangers to Qualify

Rangers host Portuguese side Benfica at the Ibrox on Thursday in the Europa League. The Scottish team will be trying to avoid the mistakes they made in the first leg, when they conceded a contentious penalty and scored an own goal, resulting in a 2-2 draw.

Rangers had previously achieved success in the Europa League, reaching the finals in 2021/22. They have lost only 10 of their last 55 Europa League games. They deserve to be respected in this competition.

Phillipe Clements' team will relish a return to the Ibrox tonight, where they have been incredibly tough to beat this season. Prior to last week's unexpected loss to Motherwell, they had a 10-game home winning streak. On top of that, they have not lost in nine Europa League home games.

They come into this fixture with just two losses in their last 32 games in all competitions this season.
Benfica, on the other hand, does not appear to be travelling well lately. They have won only one of their last five away games. This included conceding a total of seven goals between rivals Porto and Sporting Lisbon.

Benfica manager Roger Schmidt is under pressure with fans calling for his departure from the club and things seem to be a bit unsettled at the moment as pressure mounts on the side to get results.

If there is ever a time for Rangers to beat Benfica it would be tonight. With their sudden poor form and the negativity surrounding the Portuguese side, Rangers can capitalise on their woes and use their incredible home support to get them over the line. 

Rangers were unfortunate not to be taking a lead into the game tonight after going ahead twice in the reverse fixture and if they can cut out mistakes, they have a good chance. 

Aston Villa vs Ajax – Aston Villa to Win

In this heavyweight Europa Conference League clash, Aston Villa will go head-to-head with Ajax at Villa Park tonight. The game ended in a 0-0 draw in the first leg as Villa failed to score in only the third time in 25 European matches.

Aston Villa will need to put the recent 4-0 home defeat against Spurs behind them and look to break the run of poor form they have had at home recently (four losses in their last five).

Regardless of how it appears on paper, I am ready to overlook Villa's terrible home record in the last five games since the opposition they have faced in these games has been superior to the team they face tonight.

Prior to this stretch, the Villains had only lost one of their previous 15 home games and conceded just 12 goals (0.8 average). 

Meanwhile, to say Ajax has suffered on the road is an understatement; they have lost 44% of their away games in all competitions this season, conceding an average of 2.2 goals per game. They also lost every road game before being eliminated from the Europa League this season.

Ajax is having a particularly bad domestic season this year, ranking fifth in the Eredivisie, and their European record isn't much better, with only three wins in 11 games.

They are extremely fortunate to be in the round of 16 tie in the first place, after two stoppage time goals saved a 2-2 draw against Bodo Glimt in the first leg, and Kenneth Taylor's 114th-minute goal earned them the tie in the second leg.

Ajax appears to be going through a transformational period right now, as the annual raid from Europe's best clubs on their top talents has finally caught up with them. 

I believe Ajax's inexperience will be exposed tonight, while this contrastingly seasoned Villa side will capitalise on their oppositions poor away form to return to winning ways at home. Villa's class should prevail as one of the top Premier League sides this season against a faltering Eredivisie squad dealing with domestic league issues.