The Round of 32 of the 2020-21 UEFA Europa League gets underway this Thursday with plenty of sides fancying their chances of going all the way in this year’s tournament. Manchester United, Leicester City, Tottenham Hotspur, Arsenal and Rangers are the British sides in Europa action in midweek. Meanwhile, AC Milan travel to Red Star Belgrade, while Lille and Ajax meet at the Stade Pierre-Mauroy in what should be a great game for the neutrals.
Braga v Roma
17:55, BT Sport, Estadio Municipal
Braga and Roma go head-to-head in an intriguing Round of 16 tie, with the first leg taking place at the Estadio Municipal in Portugal on Thursday night. Can the Serie A side return home with a positive result?
Braga, who are managed by Carlos Carvalhal these days, are an extremely tough nut to crack on home soil and they are unbeaten at home since September. Paulo Fonseca’s Roma are the favourites, but we can see Braga battling to a draw on home turf at odds of 13/5.
Red Star Belgrade v AC Milan
17:55, BT Sport, Red Star Stadium
Stefano Pioli’s AC Milan are having a tremendous season in Serie A where they are currently challenging their local rivals Inter for the top spot in the division. This Thursday, the Red and Blacks continue their Europa League campaign with a trip to Serbia to face Red Star Belgrade.
Milan have been going great guns in Serie A, but they will be hoping to hit back at the first time of asking after losing at Spezia last Saturday. Pioli’s side have won 2-0 away from home on four occasions this season and we could see that happening again here. The 2-0 Milan win on Thursday is nicely priced at odds of 15/2.
Real Sociedad v Manchester United
17:55, BT Sport, Juventus Stadium
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer takes his Man United troops to the Juventus Stadium this Thursday to play Imanol Alguacil’s Real Sociedad. The Red Devils are the strong favourites to go through to the last 16 despite only winning one of their last five games in the Peamier League.
Sociedad are currently in fifth spot in La Liga and have been tough to beat of late. However, United have lost just two games since that 3-2 defeat to RB Leipzig in the UEFA Champions League back in December. United need to start turning draws into wins but we think this is the kind of game in which they’ll be victorious. Our money is going on the United win here at odds of 6/5.
Slavia Prague v Leicester City
17:55, BT Sports, Sinobo Stadium
Brendan Rodgers’ in-form Leicester will be hoping to go far in this season’s Europa League and to build on their decent domestic form. On Thursday, the Foxes make the trip to the Sinobo Stadium in the Czech capital to face Slavia Prague.
Leicester have been outstanding away from the King Power Stadium this season, winning a staggering 11 of their 17 league and cup away fixtures on the road. City will fancy their chances of sealing a priceless away victory in Europe on Thursday. Back the Leicester win and both teams to score here at a decent price of 10/3.
Wolfsberger v Tottenham Hotspur
17:55, BT Sport, Puskas Arena
Tottenham take on Wolfsberger at the Puskas Arena in Budapest on Thursday in the first leg of their Round of 16 tie. Spurs are in poor form in the Premier League, but Jose Mourinho’s boys should see off the Austrian outfit over two legs.
Tottenham head to Hungary having lost four of their last five in the league and with pressure mountin on Jose Mourinho. As for Wolfsberger, they have won just two of their last six games in the Austrian Bundesliga. We like the look of Tottenham to win this one will a little room for manoeuvre so we’ll be backing them to win with a -1 goal handicap at odds of 11/10.
Antwerp v Rangers
20:00, BT Sport, Bosuilstadion
Steven Gerrard’s Rangers will be looking to keep up their astonishing form with a win against Antwerp in the Europa League on Thursday. The runaway leaders in the Scottish Premiership head to Belgium as the bookies’ favourites and Gerrard will be eager for his side to maintain their momentum.
Rangers have had a wonderful season so far and have won 33 of their 40 games across all competitions. As they are sky high in confidence at present, we are backing the Gers to pick up another victory here. You can get the decent price of 11/4 for the away team to win by a one goal margin.
Benfica v Arsenal
20:00, BT Sport, Stadio Olimpico
One of the standout Europa League Round of 16 ties sees Benfica and Arsenal go head-to-head. The first leg will take place at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome. The Gunners are the slight favourites to get the win in Italy on Thursday night. But given Arsenal’s lack of consistency, it is hard to have too much confidence in them, especially away from home.
After back-to-back defeats, Arsenal warmed up for this one with a much-needed 4-2 home win over Leeds United last time out. As for Benfica, they have drawn five of their last eight in the Primeira Liga. A draw would be a decent result for both sides and on balance we think backing the stalemate at the available odds of 5/2 is the right way to go here.
Lille v Ajax
20:00, BT Sport, Stade Pierre-Mauroy
Christophe Galtier’s Lille and Erik ten Hag’s Ajax square off at the Stade Pierre-Mauroy in Europa League action on Thursday. The hosts are the favourites to seize victory on home soil, but the Dutch giants are a solid outfit under Ten Hag and will not be brushed aside without putting up a real fight.
Lille currently lead the way at the top of Ligue 1 after a superb season so far. As for Ajax, they sit proudly at the summit of the Eredivisie having won 17 of their 21 league matches to date. This first leg could go either way in France, but we can see the pair playing out an entertaining draw. Check out the solid odds of 9/1 for the draw and over 3.5 goals to be scored in the game.