Thursday’s Europa League matches will be wild, and BetXChange is here to make previews for three of the most interesting.
AC Milan vs. Celtic Preview and Prediction
Two former European champions clash at San Siro, desperate to clinch a win. Rossoneri are second in Group H, one point behind Lille, and one ahead of Sparta Prague, while Celtic sit last, having won a point so far.
Following just one win in three matches, Milan strengthens its morale this weekend, defeating Fiorentina, 2-0, and showing a solid performance against their big rivals. Ibrahimovic won’t be ready for this event, but that is something Stefano Pioli’s side needs to solve. The veteran Swed isn’t expected to play the entire season with his age.
Celtic is in a knockout with only two wins over the past 10 events, which is something that they haven’t experienced in a long time. They would keep the net intact just once during that stretch and allow 20 goals. Pretty unbelievable when speaking about the Hoops. Each of their past five road events saw over 3.5 goals with both sides netting.
This suggests that we bet on Milan’s high victory, as it is obvious that Celtic performs pretty badly on the road. Winning with -1.5 goals, Asian handicap is 1.01, and that is superb.
LASK vs. Tottenham Hotspur Preview and Prediction
Jose Mourinho and his crew have one very tough event in Austria where they play against LASK, who is breathing down their neck in the standings. The Spurs have nine points, three more than LASK, and the same as the top-placed Antwerp.
Boys from London didn’t allow a single goal in four straight encounters and are coming off a 0-0 draw against Chelsea. Now, there is one other challenging English Premier League game awaiting them this weekend, against Arsenal, their hated enemy. So it will be interesting to see the lineup Mourinho sends on the field on Thursday night.
LASK lost to Antwerp at home in the last EL game, 0-2, and now needs to cover up that mistake. They have one hell of a task, but the Austrians are secretly hoping to use Tottenham’s domestic obligations and surprise the big opponents. All but two of their matches at home this year haven’t seen over 2.5 goals.
Here we have an interesting situation. LASK plays open, but the question is what will Mourinho do, and is he willing to back off from his ultra-conservative tactics in this event. He won’t risk the health of his top stars before the derby with the Gunners. Two or three goals is the most likely outcome from our perspective, with the odds on that at BetXChange set at 1.05
AZ Alkmaar vs. Napoli Preview and Prediction
The most interesting group in the entire competition is Group F, where Napoli sits first with 9 points, and Real Sociedad and AZ Alkmaar follow the Italians with 7 points. AZ beat Napoli at San Paolo, 0-1, but dropped their points at other places.
Unlike previous years they aren’t that efficient, and this weekend’s even against Heracles on the road, 1-2, is the first after four consecutive with over 2.5 goals and both sides scoring.
Napoli was very motivated against Roma, slashing the guests from the capital, 40-0, and paying their respects to the late Diego Maradona. It was their second victory in a row in which they haven’t allowed a goal.
The clash in Alkmaar should be very intense, and regardless of the lineups, we sense lots of goals coming up. AZ and Napoli aren’t teams who know to play on result in big matches. In those situations, they attack or at least respond equally to the attacks coming from the other side. Therefore our pick here will be over 2.5 goals. Odds at BetXChange on that are 0.70
