Arsenal and Chelsea tips included in 20/1 Europa League treble
As the Europa League plays catch up to its more glamorous brother we begin the round of 16 phase with some intriguing ties to look forward to, picking out a tempting treble involving both Arsenal and Chelsea.
Perhaps the most evenly match tie of the draw on paper, Frankfurt host a severely depleted Inter side in confident mood. Add Hutter’s side have been a revelation in the Bundesliga this season and one of the most entertaining to watch in Europe to boot, with their attack line posing problems to all comers thus far.
The positive news for the visitors - who are without Some Vrsaljko, Keita Balde, Radja Nainggolan and Mauro Icardi - is that Ante Rebic may well be missing from Frankfurt’s fearsome front three, though Sebastien Haller and Luka Jovic carry more than enough of a goal threat to an Inter side in unconvincing form.
The German outfit have scored in all but one home game all season and have tallied up a whopping 14 goals in four matches as hosts in the Europa League thus far, with a price of 3.75 on a home win with over 2.5 goals well worth considering.
One of only two teams playing the first leg away from home that are favourites to win in this Thursday’s fixtures, the odds on Arsenal doing just that aren’t overly appealing. Having just come through a real battle against Tottenham the Gunners have another huge league game this weekend against Manchester United in the race for the top four and Unai Emery is sure to make some changes.
That’s despite his side really struggling on the road of late, winning just two of their last ten away games in all competitions against weak opposition in Blackpool and Huddersfield. When considering Rennes are now 12 games unbeaten at home, the visitors would probably be relatively content with a draw to take back to the Emirates.
With that in mind the double chance market on Rennes to win or draw is a decent price, with Marathon Bet offering odds of 1.85.
There’s no doubt that Chelsea will have been encouraged by the draw for this round but Dynamo Kyiv will no doubt look to frustrate the Blues on home soil to ensure they remain in the tie ahead of the second leg in Ukraine. The visitors have lost just once in eight matches in the tournament so far, and never away from home, but there’s no doubt that this will prove to be their sternest test.
Maurizio Sarri’s men have generally been very hard to break down at Stamford Bridge for some time, with 11 clean sheets in their last 15 home matches in all competitions. While Dynamo would no doubt love an away goal they would probably be content with a narrow margin of defeat here, and Chelsea haven’t exactly modest opposition away for much of their Europa League campaign.
Our tip for this one, then, is a home win with under 2.5 goals in the game, covering a 1-0 or 2-0 victory for Chelsea - an outcome that wouldn’t really disappoint either side.
If one were to combine all three tips into a treble, a bookmaker best price of over 20/1 is available with Betway!
