Wednesday 9 March 2011

Europa League - 10th March 2011


After a lot of thought,I've decided this is going to be the last post before the festival, ignoring all of the other sports on offer. I’ve had a lot of success but with the 6 day entries now out there’s no point delaying and I’ve got a lot of work on to make every race. Hope you like the format and come back to me for any best bets or other such stuff. And could you please be so kind to promote the blog before the festival?

Thanks and “See You Next Tuesday” (bad pun not intended), 
Keejay




Braga (2/1) v Liverpool (13/8) (6PM, CH 5)

Liverpool looked quality against Manchester United on Sunday but they’ve had some disappointing results after big wins this year (two draws against Wigan after wins against Chelsea) and this is a different test without Suarez, so impressive against United on Sunday, and Gerrard to anchor the midfield. The return of Carroll is a big boost for the Merseysiders though Aurelio and Kelly are not available. Braga are a very good team who took great advantage of Benfica’s tiredness at the weekend and have beaten Arsenal and Sevilla here recently, so Liverpool must be wary. They also overturned a 1-0 deficit to beat Lech Poznan 2-0 at home to progress to this stage to show they should be taken seriously.

Advice: 1 pt Time of 1st goal over 27 minutes (20/21 Boylesports)  

Twente (6/4) v Zenit (2/1)

Although Twente have a good home record and have already seen off Russian opponents in the last round, claiming an impressive 4-2 aggregate win over Rubin Kazan, Zenit look a touch of value to win here. They’re one of many teams talented enough to win this and defeated CSKA Moscow 1-0 to win the Russian Super Cup at the weekend.

Advice: 1.75 pts Zenit (2/1 Stan James)

Dynamo Kiev (13/8) v Manchester City (9/5)  (8PM, ITV4)

Manchester City are favourites for this competition but they were held by Aris in their last 32 first leg and face a tougher test here in the shape of Dyanmo Kiev. They barely deserved to win against Wigan at the weekend and will need to be on their game to stop a side that has lost only one of their last 16 matches in all competitions.

Advice: 1 pt Draw (9/4 Bet365)

Bayer Leverkusen (21/20) v Villarreal (3/1) (8:05 PM, ITV 4)

Villarreal have been largely outstanding in La Liga this season but so have Leverkusen in the Bundesliga and Villarreal looked vulnerable away from home at Athleico on Sunday – a stat underlined by the fact that in all competitions Villarreal have won just once in their last eight away games – And Bayer can punish that.

Advice: 1 pt Bayer Leverkusen (21/20 Totesport)

CSKA Moscow (13/8) v FC Porto (2/1) (6PM)

Porto very nearly messed things up against Sevilla but they’re a good side and two easy wins over Olanhense and Guimaires given the feeling that the confidence is back. They can go really far in this competition and have the guile to get a win over CSKA here.

Advice: 2 pts Porto (2/1 Paddy Power)

Benfica (4/6) v Paris Saint-Germain (5/1) (8:05 PM)

Benfica are one of the best teams in this year’s competition and can be forgiven a 2-1 defeat away at Braga, a side well worth the win on Sunday. Paris were disjointed defensively in the 2-1 win at home to Toulouse, required extra time to beat second-tier Le Mans in the French Cup and were made to pay for their profligacy in front of goal in Saturday’s 1-0 defeat at Auxerre and may be punchished again here.

Advice: 3 pts Benfica (4/6 Skybet)

PSV Eindhoven (1/2) v Rangers (13/2)

Rangers were able to sneak through against Sporting but they’ve been unimpressive since and made worryingly hard work of beating St Mirren on Sunday. PSV did well to draw with Ajax and beat Excelsior and were seriously impressive in scoring 6 against French League leaders Lille.

Advice: 1.5 pts Over 2.5 goals (Evs William Hill)

Ajax (4/5) v Spartak Moscow (4/1) (8:05 PM, ESPN)

There’s less in this than the odds suggest but Spartak’s winter break makes it impossible to oppose Ajax, especially with home advantage. We’ve already seen what a lack of match practice can do to a  team in Europe although Ajax may struggle in Russia they’ve got to a take a lead there and have more than enough quality to do so.

Advice: 1 pt Ajax (4/5 Stan James) 

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