Europa League News
Europa League
It may be almost 10 months until the Europa League final takes place in Baku, but there are some big teams involved in this week’s second qualifying round first leg ties including Sevilla, Atalanta, RB Leipzig, Bordeaux and Rangers.
With Burnley set to take on Aberdeen and CSKA Sofia hosting Admira Wacker there are plenty of matches to whet the appetite at this early stage of the season.
Sevilla v Ujpest
Sevilla, winners of the Europa League five times in the last 13 years, will have to come through three rounds just to reach the group stage of this season’s competition after finishing seventh in La Liga last term.
Los Rojiblancos , who reached the quarter-finals of the Champions League earlier this year after knocking Manchester United out of the competition, should have little trouble easing past Ujpest.
Sevilla 4.05 to win by 3 goals
The Hungarian side beat Neftci Baku 5-3 on aggregate in the last round but only after losing the first leg 3-1 in Azerbaijan.
Hungarian football has been in the doldrums for several decades and Ujpest, whose glory years came in the 1970s, won the last of their domestic titles more than 20 years ago.
Pablo Machin’s Sevilla side have the quality to cruise through to the next round with the only question being how many goals they win by.
Osijek v Rangers
Steven Gerrard’s team were extremely unimpressive when edging to a 2-0 aggregate victory against Macedonian side Shkupi in the first qualifying round and a visit to Croatia to play Osijek will be a far tougher challenge.
Osijek 2.20 to beat Rangers
Osijek finished fourth in their domestic league last term and in Haris Hajradinovic, 14.75 to score the first goal in Thursday’s first leg, have a striker who could cause the Gers defence plenty of problems.
Aberdeen v Burnley
Burnley may have hoped for a more exotic tie than a trip to north-east Scotland in their first foray into European competition for more than half a century and they may find it difficult to beat the Dons at Pittodrie.
The Clarets’ success in finishing seventh in the Premier League last season was built on excellent teamwork and a superb spirit but Aberdeen will be no pushovers as Derek McInnes has put together a squad that has been Celtic’s main challengers in the last few years.
Aberdeen 3.25 to draw with Burnley
Burnley may be able to get the result they need in the second leg at Turf Moor next week to qualify for the next round but they could find themselves having to settle for a draw in Scotland on Thursday.
CSKA Sofia v Admira Wacker
Bulgarian side CSKA Sofia have been in the doldrums recently and they could come unstuck against an Admira Wacker team that finished fifth in the Austrian Bundesliga in 2017/18.
Admira Wacker 3.80 to beat CSKA Sofia
CSKA were nearly knocked out in the first qualifying round by Latvian side Riga FC and may not be so lucky this time.
Red Bull Salzburg reached the semi-finals of last season’s Europa League and, while Admira Wacker are unlikely to repeat that feat, they can beat CSKA on Thursday.
