Europa League Matchday 3 Tips: Mourinho can take revenge on erratic Manchester United
The third round of Europa League will commence on Thursday, with the stakes starting to rise for the clubs involved.
Lazio, Lyon and Tottenham have made flying starts, while giants of the European game such as Manchester United and Roma, have been underperforming and need to make up lost ground.
Tip 1 - Fenerbahce draw no bet against Manchester United @ 49/50
Manchester United travel to Fenerbahce looking for their first win in this Europa League campaign, having been held to a home draw by Twente, before a thrilling match at Porto which finished 3-3.
Since they last played in this competition, the Red Devils have picked up a useful Premier League point away at Aston Villa and then beaten Brentford 2-1 over the weekend, but Erik ten Hag’s side are erratic by nature.
Fener have made a solid start, beating Union Saint-Gilloise 2-1 at home and drawing 1-1 at Twente under former United manager Jose Mourinho.
There is nothing that the ‘Special One’ would enjoy more than upsetting his old club and you can back Fener cautiously and still get decent odds against a United team likely to be rotated.
Tip 2 - Under 2.5 goals in Roma v Dinamo Kyiv @ 23/20
Both Roma and Dinamo Kyiv are in need of Europa League points when they meet on Thursday evening.
The Italians have drawn at home to Athletic Bilbao and then suffered a surprise away loss at Elfsborg, with their form having failed to improve since sacking Daniele De Rossi and replacing him with Ivan Juric.
Dinamo are 35th in the table, after losing 3-0 to Lazio and 2-0 to Hoffenheim, with Ukrainian sides facing the disadvantage of having to play home games on neutral territory.
It’s hard to have faith in Roma, even against struggling opponents but one area in which they have been consistent of late is the lack of goals in their games.
Tip 3 - Lyon to beat Besiktas half-time/full-time @ 7/5
Second-placed Lyon host a Besiktas side who are currently bottom of the Europa League table. Wins over Olympiakos and Rangers have put Lyon in a strong position in the table, forming part of a run of five straight victories for the Ligue 1 club.
Besiktas were beaten 4-0 at Ajax, before losing 3-1 at home to Eintracht Frankfurt and they may now have one eye on their domestic clash against their rivals Galatasaray, which takes place at the weekend.
Lyon have been ahead at the break in each of their last three games and should get victory sewn up early again
Tip 4 - Both teams to score and over 2.5 goals in Twente v Lazio @ 49/50
Europa League leaders Lazio travel to the Netherlands to take on Twente.
Lazio have enjoyed dominant wins against Dinamo Kyi and Nice, while earning a reputation under new manager Marco Baroni as a side who are regularly involved in entertaining games.
At the weekend they lost 1-0 at Juventus, which ended a run of seven consecutive Serie A games in which they both scored and conceded.
With Twente drawing 1-1 with both United and Fener, this seems like another game involving Lazio that is likely to see goals.
Tip 5 - Tottenham to beat AZ Alkmaar and both teams to score @ 31/20
Tottenham have made a perfect start to their Europa League campaign and will expect another win against AZ Alkmaar.
A collapse against Brighton aside, Spurs have been in good form of late, beating Qarabag and Ferencvaros in this competition.
The latter victory came despite Ange Postecoglou naming a very young side and the Australian coach is likely to rotate again at home to an AZ side who have lost each of their last four games.
The Lilywhites rarely keep a clean sheet, so the Dutch visitors may well get amongst the goals, even if they are likely to be beaten.
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Odds correct at time of publication but subject to fluctuation