The UEFA Europa League returns with a quartet of ties this week, with all eight teams dreaming of hoisting aloft this trophy in Dublin next month.
Here are our betting tips for this week’s quarter-final first leg action.
Europa League Betting Tips - Thursday 11 April
UEFA Europa League Acca of the Day
Liverpool to win and over 2.5 goals
Liverpool vs Atalanta
Bayer Leverkusen to win and over 2.5 goals
Bayer Leverkusen vs West Ham United
AC Milan to win
AC Milan vs Roma
Both teams to score
Benfica vs Olympique de Marseille
At 9/1, a £10 bet would return £104.55!
UEFA Europa League acca of the week- 11 April
Liverpool vs Atalanta betting tips
Jürgen Klopp has won every competition he has entered as Liverpool manager: Premier League, Champions League, FA Cup, EFL Cup, FIFA Club World Cup, UEFA Super Cup and FA Community Shield.
Well, all except one, with the Reds beaten in the Europa League Final of 2016 by Sevilla, a few months into Klopp’s tenure on Merseyside.
Of course, with their team embroiled in a three-way title fight, Liverpool supporters are desperate to win the league again, although a Europa League Final triumph in Dublin wouldn’t be a bad way to bow out either.
So far in this competition, the Reds cruised to top spot in their group, before hammering Sparta Prague 11-2 on aggregate in the round of 16, prevailing 5-1 away and then 6-1 at home.
This is actually the fifth time Liverpool have scored double-figures in a two-legged tie, also doing so against Knattspyrnufélag Reykjavíkur in ‘64, Dundalk in ‘69, Strømsgodset in ‘74 and Oulun Palloseura in 1980.
At home, the Reds have won all four Europa League matches this season, scoring 17 goals, so will fancy their chances of establishing a healthy lead with which to take to Bergamo next Thursday.
So, a tough task awaits Atalanta, as they seek to reach just a second-ever European semi-final, previously beaten in the last four of the Cup Winners’ Cup by Mechelen all the way back in 1988.
Gian Piero Gasperini’s side are yet to taste defeat in this season’s Europa League, overcoming Sporting CP in the last 16, drawing 1-1 in Lisbon before a 2-1 victory at Stadio Atleti Azzurri d’Italia.
La Dea have though won only one of their last six in Serie A, thereby slipping down to sixth, needing points to make sure they’re back in UEFA competition again next year.
Three seasons ago, Atalanta actually won 2-0 in a behind-closed-doors Champions League tie at Anfield, albeit this came after Liverpool had left Northern Italy 5-0 winners earlier that month.
The Reds have previously won six of eight European two-legged knockout ties against Italian opposition, including each of the last four, with the three-times UEFA Cup winners expected to further improve that ratio.
Liverpool to win
1st selection
Both teams to score
2nd selection
Mohamed Salah to score anytime
3rd selection
At 13/5 a £10 bet would return £36
Liverpool vs Atalanta
Bayer Leverkusen vs West Ham United betting tips
Will Bayer Leverkusen’s extraordinary unbeaten campaign continue, carrying them to one of the most unlikely trebles in football history?
So far, across all three competitions, Xabi Alonso’s side have played 41 matches, won 36 and lost exactly zero.
This has seen die Schwarzroten reach the DFB-Pokal Final, set to face second-tier Kaiserslautern, while they’re also a whopping 16 points clear at the top of the Bundesliga, having won nine matches on the spin.
So, Bayer could rubber stamp a first-ever Meisterschale as soon as this weekend, securing the title should they beat Werder Bremen at home on Sunday.
On top of this potential domestic double, die Werkself are also dreaming of European glory too, seeking to add to the UEFA Cup the club captured back in 1988.
Although, Leverkusen were very nearly beaten by Qarabağ in the previous round, first finding themselves 2-0 in Baku, requiring a stoppage time equaliser from Patrik Schick to salvage a draw.
Then, going into stoppage time, the Azeri champions led 2-1 in Germany, only for Schick to score not once but twice in added on time, snatching the most extraordinary 5-4 aggregate victory you’re ever likely to see.
This Bayer Leverkusen side simply cannot be beaten, hence why they come into this tie as firm favourites.
So, a daunting prospect for West Ham United, as they seek to claim another memorable European scalp.
Two seasons ago, the Hammers reached the Europa League semi-finals, before going all the way in the Europa Conference League last time round, capturing the club’s first trophy since 1980.
This year, after topping their group, David Moyes’ men swatted aside Freiburg in the round of 16, actually beaten 1-0 in Germany, before a thumping 5-0 victory at the London Stadium a week later.
Following victory at Molineux on Saturday, the Irons are back up to seventh in the Premier League, in a decent position to be back in Europe again, but are fully focussed on this ongoing campaign first and foremost.
Can the Hammers prevent the soon-to-be crowned Bundesliga champions from establishing an unassailable first leg lead at BayArena?
Bayer Leverkusen to win
1st selection
Over 2.5 goals
2nd selection
Florian Wirtz to score anytime
3rd selection
At 4/1, a £10 bet would return £50
Bayer Leverkusen vs West Ham United
AC Milan vs Roma betting tips
AC Milan have played 432 matches in UEFA competition, while Roma have competed in 325, but this’ll be the very first time these two Italian giants have ever gone head-to-head in a European setting.
Of course, Milan are seven-times Champions League winners, only Real Madrid can boast more titles, but have never added this trophy to their bulging cabinet, a fact they’re desperate to change come 22 May.
This is I Rossoneri’s 12th attempt to win the Europa League, in it’s various guises, with their best runs to date seeing them reach the semi-finals, beaten by Tottenham in 1972 and Borussia Dortmund in 2002.
So far this season, after dropping out of the Champions League, Stefano Pioli’s side have dispatched Stade Rennais and Slavia Prague, establishing emphatic first leg advantages at home both times.
In Serie A, having won five in a row, Milan sit second, 13 points clear of fifth but 14 points adrift leaders Inter so, with little tangible to play for, can fully focus on this competition.
Roma meanwhile are aiming to reach a European final for a third successive season, crowned the inaugural Europa Conference League winners in 2022, before a heartbreaking penalty shootout defeat in the final of this tournament 12 month ago.
All of this was achieved by José Mourinho, but he was sacked in January following a string of poor results.
Under interim boss Daniele De Rossi, things have really turned around, with I Giallorossi winning eight of their last 11 in Serie A, including a Derby della Capitale victory over fierce rivals Lazio on Saturday, reigniting their Champions League hopes.
Meanwhile, in Europe, Roma required a penalty shootout to overcome Feyenoord in February, before steamrollering Brighton 4-0 at the Olimpico in the last 16, making a 1-0 defeat in Sussex a mere footnote.
So far this season, AC Milan have won both meetings with Rome, leaving the eternal city 2-1 winners in September, before a 3-1 victory at San Siro in, what proved to be, Mourinho’s last game in charge.
I Rossoneri have won four of their six two-legged ties against fellow Italian opposition to date, while I Giallorossi have lost both previous such ties, most-notably defeated by Inter in the 1991 UEFA Cup Final.
So, will Il Diavolo make home advantage count at Stadio Giuseppe Meazza?
AC Milan to win
1st selection
Over 2.5 goals
2nd selection
Rafael Leão to score anytime
3rd selection
At 11/2, a £10 bet would return £65!
AC Milan vs Roma
Benfica vs Olympique Marseille betting tips
Neither of these two former European champions come into this tie is particularly good form, so who will be able to rise to the occasion in Lisbon?
Benfica have a proad European history, hoisting aloft European Cups in ‘61 and ‘62, but subsequently beaten in all eight continental finals in which they’ve featured, this accredited to Béla Guttmann’s 100-year curse.
So far this season, Roger Schmidt’s team made a nightmare start to the Champions League campaign, losing four out out of four, only snatching third spot thanks to Arthur Cabral’s 92nd minute goal away to RB Salzburg on the final matchday.
Since dropping into this competition, As Águias haven’t been particularly impressive either, scrapping past both Toulouse and Rangers, with Rafa Silva the only scorer at Ibrox four Thursdays ago.
Domestically, Benfica have suffered not one but two Derby de Lisboa defeats in the last week, first dumped out the Taça de Portugal by their fiercest rivals, ousted 4-3 on aggregate at the semi-final stage.
Then, on Saturday night, Sporting scored a 91st minute winner, a result that leaves them four points clear at the top of the Primeira Liga, with a game in hand, all but ending Benfica’s hopes of retaining the title.
So now, with very little to play for domestically, their campaign hinges upon progression in Europe, desperate to get through this tie.
As for Olympique de Marseille, safe to say head coach Jean-Louis Gasset has had a mixed start to life in the South of France.
After taking over in mid-February, he won his first five matches in charge, including masterminding home victories over both Shakhtar Donetsk and Villarreal in this competition.
However, since then, les Phocéens have suffered four successive defeats, beaten by PSG in le Classique on Easter Sunday, before a third consecutive Ligue 1 loss at the hands of Lille last Friday night.
Les Olympiens are currently outside the European positions domestically, so may have to win this tournament to be back in UEFA competition come the autumn.
OM were European champions in 1993, but have never captured this trophy, beaten in the final on three occasions, defeated by Parma in 1999, Valencia in 2004 and Atlético Madrid in 2018.
Given that Marseille are unbeaten at home in Europe this season, winning five of six matches, they’ll feel confident of reaching the semi-finals, should they pick up a positive result in the Portuguese capital.
Benfica though have progressed through both previous ties between the pair, advancing on away goals in the 1990 European Cup semi-finals, as well as a 3-2 aggregate victory in the 2010 Europa League round of 16.
One feels, for them to make this a hat-trick, a home win at Estádio da Luz is vitally important.
Benfica to win
1st selection
Both teams to score
2nd selection
Both teams to receive multiple cards
3rd selection
At 9/2, a £10 bet would return £55
Benfica vs Olympique de Marseille
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