There's some serious value on offer as the five British teams prepare for their penultimate Europa League group games.
FC Astana v Man Utd - 15:50
Thursday’s (super) early kick-off sees Manchester United make the unpleasantly long trip to Kazakhstan, where I’m backing them to beat Astana to nil.
There’s no denying United under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer are simply not very good, but this Astana side have lost all four of their Group L games thus far, scoring just a single goal in the process.
As for United, they are yet to concede once, and even with their lack of quality (especially on the road), 7/2 for them to beat this Astana outfit with a clean sheet seems generous.
Braga v Wolves - 17:55
I’ve gone for an even bigger price for Braga v Wolves: a score-draw.
Wolves have lost just one of their last 13 matches (a Carabao Cup game against Aston Villa), while Braga have tasted defeat in one of their last 14 – they are two sides who look very tough to beat.
The Portuguese side beat Wolves at Molineux, although a draw on Thursday will see both sides qualify for the last 32, and that looks increasingly likely.
Furthermore, Braga have conceded in eight of their last 11 home games, while both teams have scored in seven of Wolves’ last eight.
Feyenoord v Rangers - 17:55
Next up, I have under 2.5 goals for Feyenoord v Rangers.
Fewer than three goals have been scored in all of Feyenoord’s four group games, while we’ve seen over a couple of goals in just one of Rangers’ four.
It’s tough to analyse Rangers’ domestic form due to the level of opposition, but they’ve shown they can tough it out against some very good European sides—such as Porto, who they took four points off—and it could be another tight affair, as the best defence in Group G face the joint-worst attack.
Celtic v Rennes - 20:00
At a slightly shorter price, I expect Celtic to beat Rennes at home.
It’s been a pretty miserable campaign for Rennes, who followed-up their initial draw versus Celtic with three consecutive defeats – putting them out of qualifying contention.
On the other hand, Celtic have been absolutely superb, and impressive back-to-back victories against Lazio have seen them qualify with a couple of games to spare.
However, while Rennes are dead in the water, Celtic need to win in order to maintain their place at the top of the table; a slip-up, and Cluj will be primed to pip them to the post.
This should be a solid home win for the Scots.
Arsenal v Eintracht Frankfurt - 20:00
Last but certainly not least, I’m backing Eintracht Frankfurt to beat Arsenal at The Emirates with both teams scoring.
Now this could get tasty.
Despite Frankfurt losing six of their last nine away matches, the sentiment around Arsenal is so negative, so toxic and so riddled with uncertainty that this fixture is tailor-made for the Germans to win – and in turn surely call curtains on Unai Emery’s time at the club.
The Gunners aren’t exactly in good shape either, having failed to win in six matches, and the ‘performance’ against Southampton—which they drew 2-2 despite being battered—bodes very poorly for this one.
Alexandre Lacazette’s non-celebration after his last-gasp equaliser against the Saints shows, in my eyes, the rift between the players and manager at Arsenal; all is clearly not well.
Both teams have scored in Arsenal’s last four home games, while Frankfurt have only failed to score once in their last eight on the road.
I expect this to be the final nail in Unai’s coffin.
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