Our capper provides picks on three upcoming matches in the Europa League, a competition some sides take more seriously than others.
Red Star Belgrade vs. Arsenal
After their humiliating 2-1 defeat away at Watford last weekend in the Premier League, Arsenal travel to play Red Star Belgrade in Europa League on Thursday – bet on it at BMR’s green-listed sportsbooks — as they try to bounce back and return home with the three points to secure their top place in EL Group H. The Gunners have big injury problems being be without Shkodran Mustafi, Santi Cazorla, Laurent Koscielny, Danny Welbeck, Calum Chambers and Francis Coquelin. They could be in for a tough night against the decent Serbian side, but they should be able to claim a narrow win as they are the better team despite Arsene Wenger’s squad rotation. Red Star Belgrade are looking amazing in their domestic league, leading the standings, and they will surely enter this match full of confidence trying to pull off the upset. Arsenal’s Jack Wilshere and Olivier Giroud are expected to be in the starting XI, having the chance to show what they are capable of by helping their team to maintain their leading spot. Red Star have an amazing crowd and one of the most intimidating atmospheres in the world. Best pick: Arsenal to win at 1.8 with Unibet.
Nice vs. Lazio
This match should be one of the most exciting games of the round in Europa League between two great attacking teams. The two squads are level on points in Group K so this match is a 6-pointer. The winner will earn 9 points and will be one step away from the EL knockout stages after just three rounds. Lazio are in great shape this season sitting 4th in Serie A with their star Ciro Immobile being on fire. He scored a brace last weekend to interrupt Juventus’ unbeaten home record in Serie A after two years. Nice are coming after two defeats in Ligue 1 and they will try to come back to winning ways. We expect a thrilling match with both teams contributing on the scoreboard and at least three goals in the match. Lazio bounced back after their heavy defeat against Napoli in Serie A and won 4 straight matches in all competitions by scoring 13 goals in the process. They should have enough to win this away fixture but let’s skip the winners market and focus on the goals market. Best pick: Over 2.5 goals at 1.95 with Bet365.
Everton vs. Lyon
It has been a disappointing start to the season for The Toffees, sitting 16th in the Premier League standings with just 8 points earned in 8 rounds. They struggle to find their best shape and they scored just 5 goals in their domestic league this season, conceding 13. They have won just two of their 9 EPL and EL fixtures. They have a very tough game next weekend against Arsenal at home so they will try to rest some of their key players here. It seems like they ae not so interested in this competition sitting last in the standings with just 1 point earned in 2 rounds. Lyon have one of the best attacking squads in Europe this season with 20 goals scored in their top-flight league. We expect a thrilling encounter with Lyon coming to play their chance and trying to pull off the upset and return home with a positive result. Everton are favourites to win this clash being priced at 2.5 with Bet365 but we don’t expect them to win so once again we will skip the winners market. We anticipate goals in this game, at least three of them. Best pick: Over 2.5 goals in the game at 1.8 with Bet365.
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