The return of European football continues on Thursday evening with Europe’s second and third-tier competitions following the resumption of UEFA Champions League football on Tuesday and Wednesday.
While the Champions League goes straight into the round of 16, the Europa League and Europa Conference League first go into a play-off round which sees the group-stage runners-up face up against third-placed sides from the competition above. The winners of this playoff will then move into the round of 16 against the group-stage winners.
This system has provided us with huge drama in the past two seasons, and we expect that this will continue on Thursday evening with some massive games in store. Read on as we pick out our top tips and booking codes for the upcoming action:
Union St. Gilloise vs Eintracht Frankfurt
Union St. Gilloise would have been hoping for an easier match-up when they dropped down into the Europa Conference League after finishing third in their Europa League group earlier in the season. Instead, they’ve been matched against one of the tougher sides in this playoff round in Eintracht Frankfurt.
Despite this, USG will fancy their chances coming into this first leg with their home record being fantastic so far this season. USG have lost just once at the Stade Joseph Marien this campaign, with this coming against Genk back in September. Since then they have gone on a 14-game unbeaten run picking up wins against Liverpool and Anderlecht along the way, leaving them in great stead coming into this one.
Frankfurt, on the other hand, have won just three of their last 10 games in all competitions as well as two of their last eight away games. This form leaves USG as strong favourites coming into the first leg of this game, and we fancy USG to win this one.
Union St. Gilloise to win, 2.20
Real Betis vs Dinamo Zagreb
Real Betis are coming into this one having seemingly made their way out of a tough run of form that saw them go six games without a win, but they have improved massively in their last five with three wins and one draw. Dinamo Zagreb come into this one in a similar vein of form as they have also taken three wins and one draw from their last five matches, leaving this one as an extremely evenly matched game.
While we do expect this one to be a tough game for both sides, we fancy that Real Betis’ overall quality with players such as Nabil Fekir, Willian Jose, and Rodri will help lead them to victory.
Real Betis to win, 1.60
Ajax vs Bodoe/Glimt
Since Brian Brobbey’s controversial move to RB Leipzig and transfer back to Ajax just a summer later, the striker has been able to cement himself as one of Ajax’s key players. 13 goals in 32 games last season saw Brobbey record his highest-scoring league season to date, which he has already managed to match in just 20 games this time around.
Five goals in his last five games sees the Dutch international come into this one in great form, and we fancy the young striker to score once again in this one.
Brian Brobbey to score anytime, 2.25
Booking codes:
67J62KY
67J653S
