The Europa League playoffs kick off this Thursday, with the teams from the UEFA Champions League joining this competition. The top game of the round is in Barcelona, where the hosts meet Manchester United. Sevilla plays against PSV in another big matchup, while Salzburg faces the Europa Conference League champs, AS Roma.
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Barcelona VS Manchester United
Blaugrana is on fire, winning the last 11 games, and pulling away in the La Liga standings. They have defeated Villarreal in the most recent domestic match, 0-1 on the road, thus keeping the gap between them and Real at a solid distance.
Manchester United has five wins and one draw in the last six events, meaning that they, too, look pretty good these days. We have to add that Erik Ten Hag put all the pieces of the puzzle in the right place following Ronaldo’s departure and that since the Red Devils play excellent football.
The respective defenses have been in good form. Barca kept a clean sheet in four recent five events, while United did that on three occasions, which is why we take under 2.5 scores here.
Pick: Under 2.5 goals 11/10 at BetXchange
Sevilla VS PSV
Sevilla plays hot and cold, subsequently winning and losing. Though there is a pattern in their game that shows that Rojoblancos play much better at home than on the road and that they have four triumphs in a row at home, not conceding in three.
On the other side is PSV, who began improving in the past few weeks, following a tricky period upon the conclusion of the World Cup. Some of the players departed,, which affected the former European champs, which took a toll. For the moment, the team is without a defeat in four straight netting at least twice in all of them.
The Dutch team will attack in Spain, that’s for sure, and we think this game has a high potential for seeing goals on both ends of the field.
Pick: Both teams to score 3/4 at BetXchange
Salzburg VS Roma
The Bulls haven’t started well in the second part of the year, losing to Sturm Graz in the domestic cup, which was a huge shock. After that, they bounced back with a 4-0 win over Austria Lustenau, but even in that one, we didn’t see the Bulls confident as they used to be in the past.
Roma oscillates throughout the entire year, and the most recent of their games show that. Two defeats, then a win, and after that, a draw. The only thing that repeats is the efficiency, which is a moderate one, meaning 2 or 3 goals.
Our suggestion here is low efficiency, under 2.5 goals. Roma will come to defend and wait to close the deal at home, and Salzburg too, won’t be too keen to open up.
Pick: Under 2.5 goals at BetXchange
Juventus VS Nantes
The Old Lady is still shaky following all the turbulences they’ve experienced these weeks, but the latest wins are slowly improving the situation. Juve won three in a row, not allowing a single goal, and is rising.
Meanwhile, Nantes also has three triumphs one after another, and their defense was solid as well during that stretch allowing just one goal. But what is impressive is that Nantes conceded once in the recent seven away games, which needs to be credited.
Due to this, and the fact that Juventus isn’t playing some ultra-offensive football, we suggest taking under 2.5 goals. It is in our opinion, the safest option of all.
Pick: Under 2.5 goals 10/11 at BetXchange
