Europa League Free Bets, FC Utrecht v Liverpool, Man City v Juventus
Europa League betting preview
FC Utrecht v Liverpool, 6pm
It’s been a horrible start to the season for Liverpool FC, especially after last week’s Carling Cup exit at the hands of Northampton, although that probably won’t stop Roy Hodgson from fielding a weakened team in Holland this week. The Europa League is a fairly low priority for the Reds, although they are still strong favourites at 6/5 (Stan James) to win Thursday’s match, with Ladbrokes going as short as even money.
Once again, we are unlikely to see the likes of Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres, with Hodgson likely to give some of the fringe players a chance to redeem themselves after the cobblers against the Cobblers. David Ngog scored twice against Steaua Bucharest a fortnight ago and the Frenchman is 11/2 with bet365 to open the scoring in Utrecht and 7/4 with bet365 to score at any stage of the match.
FC Utrecht will be hoping to take a famous scalp and Victor Chandler offer tempting odds of 13/5 that they manage all three points against this Liverpool B team. They did come away from Napoli with a creditable 0-0 draw and William Hill offer 11/5 that this match also finishes all square on Thursday night.
Manchester City v Juventus, 8.05pm
This could easily be the Europa League final and perhaps these teams will go on to meet in May after progressing through the group and knockout stage. At least the Manchester City owners can pretend that they are in the Champions League on Thursday night, with Juve a permanent fixture in Europe’s premier competition until fairly recently when money got a lot tighter in Turin.
Who would have thought we’d see the day when City would be odds-on to beat this famous name in world football, although Paddy Power and Ladbrokes offer a best price 4/5 that Roberto Mancini’s team take another maximum haul after winning 2-0 in Salzburg a fortnight ago. The squad will be buzzing after the Citizens beat Chelsea on Saturday, although the manager is likely to make several changes to the team for this match.
We might see Carlos Tevez given a rest after leading the line and scoring the winner against the English champions, with Emmanuel Adebayor looking for a chance to prove himself after being left out of the first team so far this term. The striker is 6/1 with William Hill to open the scoring, while Jo might also accompany him in attack and the Brazilian is 7/1 with Hills.
It will also be a chance for Adam Johnson to demonstrate to Mancini that he’s all about the team and not his own individual play, with William Hill again going a best price with their 11/1 quote.
Meanwhile, Juventus are 4/1 with Sky Bet to take a maximum haul and they got their group campaign off to a poor start when the Old Lady of Turin could only draw 3-3 with Lech Poznan two weeks ago. Perhaps they will be happy with another point from this match, something that Coral offer as a 13/5 chance and Vincenzo Iaquinta is available at 17/2 with bet365 to score the first goal.