In The Mixer: Experts combine for huge 843/1 Europa League tip
Sports Journalist at FST, Gareth qualified as a journalist after graduating from university and spent over a decade as a freelance broadcast journalist, commentator and tipster before joining FST. Now living in Manchester, he is a long suffering Bolton Wanderers fan who also enjoys boxing, the NBA, tennis and rugby league.
In The Mixer is FST’s weekly column where we catch up with our team of football betting experts and get their opinion on the hot topic of the week.
The first legs of the Europa League play-offs take place this week as 16 teams battle for the eight remaining places in the last 16.
We assigned a game to each of our experts for this week’s edition of In The Mixer and asked for their best bet for each game, then combined their picks to form this huge 843/1 Accumulator Tip.
We’ve used bet365 to slip up this accumulator and new customers can take advantage of their sign-up offer using the button below, and you can read on to see what they’re tipping and back their bet.
843/1 Europa League Play-Offs Mega Accumulator Tip
Rob Eddy
Fenerbahce v Anderlecht – Youssef En-Nesyri To Score Anytime
While hosts Fenerbahce are understandable favourites, they look way too short having won only one of their four league phase home games, drawing two and losing the other.
Anderlecht make more appeal in the double-chance market, as they have lost just one of four on the road in the Europa League. However, David Hubert’s men lost their last two games to surrender a top-eight finish, won only two of their last six in all competitions and lost two of their last three away.
Youssef En-Nesyri has been a standout for Fener though, and having scored once in his opening 12 games of the season, he has since bagged 16 in his next 19 appearances, and 12 in his last nine. At odds against, he looks great value to find the net.
Ian Wilkerson
Ferencvaros v Viktoria Plzen – Both Teams To Score
Ferencvaros have failed to win their last three games in the Hungarian top flight and they may be unable to keep a clean sheet when Viktoria Plzen head to Budapest on Thursday.
The home side collected a 4-3 win over AZ Alkmaar in their final match of the league stage and two of the Dutch side’s goals came in the closing stages, so they should take confidence from that and home victories over Nice and Malmo.
However, their Czech visitors have battled their way through two qualifying rounds to get to this stage and their only defeats have come against Manchester United and Athletic Bilbao, so they have not been disgraced.
Both teams have scored in five of their last six Europa League matches and that pattern could continue this week.
Jamie Griffith
Midtjylland v Real Sociedad – Sociedad to win
While a shade of odds-against for a side who have lost four of their last five away games may seem a touch short, it is hard to envisage Midtjylland having enough to stop Real Sociedad on Thursday.
The Danish league has still not restarted, meaning the hosts haven’t played since drawing 2-2 with Fenerbahce on January 30, and that lack of match sharpness is likely to hurt them against a talented La Real.
Real Sociedad’s only defeats during the league phase came against Lazio, Anderlecht and Viktoria Plzen – that trio finished in the top half – while Midtjylland’s three wins all came against sides who finished in the bottom half, suggesting the visitors should take the spoils.
Tom McGarry
Union Saint-Gilloise v Ajax – Union SG to win
Union Saint-Gilloise have found some form over recent weeks, winning six of their last seven games across all competitions, the only exception being their 2-1 loss at Rangers in their last European fixture.
That defeat came on the road at Ibrox, but at home Sebastien Pocognoli’s side are unbeaten in 12, winning ten of those. Union have beaten Liverpool, Nice, and Braga at home across the last two seasons in the Europa League.
That is the magnitude of the task awaiting Ajax in Belgium, with the Amsterdam giants having lost on their last two European road trips to Real Sociedad and RFS.
Union can certainly win this game, but it should remain close, setting things up nicely for the return tie at the Johan Cruyff Arena.
Jack Ogalbe
AZ v Galatasaray – AZ to win
Galatasaray failed to win away from home in the Europa League league phase, drawing three times, including a 1-1 tie in Alkmaar in November.
Thursday’s hosts, De Kaasboeren, beat Elfsborg, Gala’s big rivals Fenerbahce and Roma at AFAS Stadion in the last round and can improve on that previous tie by grabbing a victory, which will give them something to hold onto when they travel to Istanbul.
Okan Buruk’s visitors should come through the tie overall but will be made to work hard, with AZ tipped for a first-leg victory on Thursday.
Aidan Perkins
PAOK v FCSB – PAOK to win
PAOK only squeezed into the Europa League play-offs on goal difference but they can secure a vital first-leg victory over FCSB as they aim to make the last 16.
PAOK warmed up for their home clash with the Romanian outfit by thumping OFI 5-0 away in the Greek Super League on Saturday and they were impressive when beating Ferencvaros 5-0 and Slavia Prague 2-0 in their last two home outings in this competition.
FCSB did win 1-0 at PAOK in the League phase back in October but they look set to be in for a much tougher evening this time at the Stadio Toumbas.
Aaron Rogan
Porto v Roma – Draw & BTTS
Porto head into their Europa League first-leg clash with Roma having won just once in eight. They’ve slipped up against Sporting, Santa Clara and Olympiakos in their last three at home.
Roma are stuck in midtable in Serie A, but Claudio Ranieri’s return has steadied the ship after a shaky start. His side remain a rung or two below the top sides in Italy, but they can hold an out-of-sorts Porto side.
The Portuguese outfit have been held to score draws in three of their last four, so back both teams to score and this game to finish level.
Alex Wrigley
Twente v Bodo/Glimt – Under 2.5 Goals
The goals flow when Twence and Bodo/Glimt play domestically, but the Dutch side in particular have kept things tighter in Europe. Three of their last four Europa League fixtures have featured two goals or fewer, and all four of their home games in the league phase went under 2.5 goals.
They will want to keep things tight in the first leg of this tie, and Bodo/Glimt’s final league-phase game was a 1-1 draw in Nice, with two of their four trips in the competition this season producing fewer than three goals.
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