The final four teams left standing in the Europa League will be decided on Thursday evening, as the path will be clear for the final in Gdansk. But, which teams will make it through their respective ties this coming week?
Manchester United vs Granada
The most simple tie this coming Thursday looks to be the one between Manchester United and Granada. The Red Devils claimed a massive 2-0 success in Spain last week, which looks a bridge too far for the Spanish side to come back from.
United went ahead early in that game through Marcus Rashford, before a late Bruno Fernandes penalty wrapped up the win. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer will be without a number of first team players this week, with Harry Maguire, Scott McTominay and Luke Shaw all out through suspension.
That could give Granada slim hope, but they will need to be more efficient in the attacking third than they were last time out. United have drawn their last two Europa League games at home, and we could see this fixture ending in the same result.
Tip: The draw at 3.31 with BetXChange.
AS Roma vs Ajax
The most interesting tie taking place in the Europa League this week will see Ajax travel to AS Roma. The Dutch side lost the first leg in Amsterdam 2-1, but they have boasted impressive form away from home in the competition throughout the season.
Ajax have saw off both Lille and Young Boys in the previous two rounds, but this is a harder proposition. It looked as though Ajax were on course to gain a first leg advantage in the previous game, as they took the lead through Davy Klaassen in the first half.
However, Roma produced an excellent comeback to take firm control. Lorenzo Pellegrini scored the first for the Italians, before a late winner from Ibanez means it is firmly advantage to the Italians. We expect Roma to seal their place in the next round with another win this coming week.
Tip: Roma at 1.67 with BetXChange.
Slavia Prague vs Arsenal
Slavia Prague have already knocked out Rangers and Leicester City in this season’s Europa League, and they will be looking to add Arsenal to that esteemed group on Thursday.
They come into the second leg on Thursday with a narrow advantage. Slavia scored a late equalising goal at the Emirates last week, which left Mikel Arteta seething on the touchline. The goal couldn’t have come much later, as it was effectively the last kick of the game.
Arsenal remain the favourites to progress through to the next round, but Slavia’s performances so far this season mean that the Gunners will need to be at their best. The Gunners struggled against Slavia last time out, and we expect them to have another tough game this week. We can feel another shock result coming, and we wouldn’t be surprised to see the match end in another draw.
Tip: The draw at 2.56 with BetXChange.
Villarreal vs Dinamo Zagreb
Dinamo Zagreb will need to produce another memorable comeback in the Europa League if they are to reach the last four.
Zagreb produced a stunning effort to beat Tottenham Hotspur 3-0 in the previous round in the second leg to comeback from 2-0 down. But, this looks a harder challenge as they travel to Spain to take a Villarreal side that don’t concede many.
The Spanish side claimed a 1-0 away success in the previous round. The only goal of the game was scored on the stroke of half time from the penalty spot by Gerard Moreno. It would be hard to see past a repeat result, as Dinamo’s fairy tale run in the Europa League is brought to an end.
