The line-up for the last eight of the Europa League will be decided on Thursday night with a few last-16 ties all but over, some in the balance, and others offering chances of value with teams potentially distracted.
Roma Can Come Unstuck in Kiev
Roma boss Paulo Fonseca knows his future revolves around finishing in the top four of Serie A and, with his side 3-0 up from the first leg, the Portuguese may rotate for the Giallorossi’s return game against his former club Shakhtar Donetsk.
The Hirnyky beat Real Madrid home and away in the Champions League group stages and like a challenge, as demonstrated by their largely positive results, despite still not being able to play on their own patch due to the internal conflict in the Donbass region.
Second in the Ukrainian Premier League, they will be looking to become only the second side to overturn a three-goal first-leg deficit in the Europa League.
That might be a tough ask, but they still look a good price to triumph on the night at 17/10.
To add something extra to that, Shakhtar are a side who always give it a go and there might prove to be extra value in the 29/10 for the home win and over 2.5 goals.
Granada Won’t Take Lead for Granted
Granada surprised everyone by finishing seventh in La Liga last term and having continued along similar lines, currently sitting eighth, seem to have had no issues adapting to the rigours associated with playing Thursday-Sunday.
A 2-0 win at the Nuevo Los Carmenes sets them up nicely for the second leg against Molde on neutral territory at Budapest’s Puskas Arena and Diego Martinez will expect his side to progress.
Despite their combined age of 73, Jorge Molina and Roberto Soldado were the goalscorers in Andalusia and are 8/5 and 6/4 respectively in the Anytime Goalscorer betting.
Molde are spirited opposition, but looked rusty last week. That’s understandable with them currently out of season and it might prove needless to look anywhere but the 5/4 for the ‘away’ win here.
Gers Can Squeeze Past Slavia
Having ended Celtic’s nine-year domestic dominance in Scotland, Rangers are free to focus on a European push and can use home advantage at Ibrox to see off Slavia Prague at 7/5.
Steven Gerrard’s side are enjoying a formidable season, with December’s 3-2 League Cup reverse at St Mirren their sole defeat in 2020-21.
After tamely losing to Bayer Leverkusen at this stage last term, the Gers have a point to prove and can soar past the Cervenobili and into the quarter-finals.
Slavia themselves are riding high at home and won away at Leicester City to reach this round, having previously emerged from a tough group involving Hapoel Be’er Sheva, Leverkusen and Nice.
Jindrich Trpiovsky’s side should be good for a goal, but the home win and both teams to score stands out at 33/10, while Alfredo Morelos is 19/10 in the Anytime Goalscorer market, having netted in four of his last five outings.
*All odds correct at time of writing
