Europa League kicks off this Thursday and we have some exciting matches to look forward to in this year’s knockout phase of the competition.
There are some big names now into the knockout phase with the likes of Barcelona, Lazio, Porto, Napoli, Dortmund, RB Leipzig, Sevilla, and many more all looking to make their claim to the trophy.
Dortmund lead the running in the betting market to win the Europa League with odds of +550, with Sevilla being made the second favorite at +700 and Barcelona third favorite at odds of +800.
Let’s check out the UEL odds for our +270 three-leg parlay ahead of this week’s round of games.
Thursday, February 17, 2022 – 12:45 PM EST at Camp Nou
The Europa League can be notorious for underdogs and surprises so we are siding with the cautious approach ahead of the fixtures this midweek.
Barcelona have looked like a much better team since the return of Xavi but a 2-2 tie to their bitter rivals Espanyol was not a welcome result at the weekend and they now face off against a Napoli team who are not to be disrespected.
The top sportsbooks have already done so in our opinion as they have made Barcelona -110 favorites, albeit they are on home soil.
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Napoli have only two injury concerns thus far heading into this tie, whilst Barcelona are struggling with no less than seven players absent. The value lies with Napoli at double chance which is around -110 with the most online betting sites.
However, our Parlay selection is over 2.5 goals as we feel it’s a much safer bet in this scenario. Barcelona are conceding and scoring a lot of goals these days, almost five per game in their previous four outings. A 2-2 draw or 2-1 win to either team in how we see this game playing out.
UEL Pick: Over 2.5 Goals (-130) BetOnline
Thursday, February 17, 2022 - 03:00 PM EST at Estádio do Dragão
Porto play host to Lazio at the Estadio Dragão in one of the most exciting and mouth-watering games of the last 16. The host beat Lazio way back in 2003/04 when they last became Europa League champions (then called the UEFA Cup) and they will be hoping this is a sign of good things to come, especially if they knock out the Italian giants over both legs.
We should see plenty of goalscoring opportunities from both these teams and over 2.5 goals in both legs is a very real possibility here, especially with the likes of Ciro Immobile and Mehdi Teremi upfront. Both players have combined for 31 goals in 42 games across all competitions this season, not a bad return.
We expect this game to be a feisty one, probably more so in the second leg than the first, but never the less both teams to see over 1.5 cards each at -140 seems like a nice parlay piece.
UEL Pick: Over 1.5 Cards Each (-140) BetOnline
Thursday, February 17, 2022 - 03:00 PM EST at Red Bull Arena
Although goals have been the agenda for Sociedad when playing on the road this season, plus the fact that the hosts are not shy of scoring themselves, we are still looking for an under here, but we are going to play it safer and buy up to under 3.5 goals at -227, as this game could very possibly finish with three goals.
We expect Sociedad would be happy to come away from this away leg with a draw and given the fact they are missing five players ahead of this game, they will most likely favor a defensive approach.
Sociedad come into this game with a 5-3-2 record in their previous 10 away games, whilst the hosts, RB Leipzig have put together an 8-2 home record in their past 10 games.
We see the hosts most likely winning this one, 2-0 / 2-1, possibly even 3-0 if Sociedad don’t turn up. Worst case scenario it's 3-1, but let’s hope not for the sake of our soccer picks.
UEL Pick: Under 3.5 Goals (-227) at BetOnline
UEL Pick: Three-Leg Parlay (+270) at BetOnline (visit our BetOnline Review)
*The line and/or odds on picks in this article might have moved since the content was commissioned. For updated line movements, visit BMR’s free betting odds product.