Europa League Analysis and Predictions for March 18th 2010

Hello to all football bettors and fans again.

It’s time for Europa League tonight, after the great games from CL last night.

The teams that advance in the next stage are now known and tomorrow from 11:00 GMT we would have the opportunity to watch the draw for the rest of the games.

After a very surprising first leg, we have the opportunity to see how everything is going to end today, and see who will advance and who will go home.

The first leg, I was expecting almost everything to end as home wins, however we had 4 draw games, only 3 home wins and 1 surprising away victory.

Hopefully today the game will be more predictable so we can make a decent profit:

Werder Bremen v Valencia 18/03/2010 18:00 GMT
Fulham v Juventus 18/03/2010 18:00 GMT
Standard Liege v Panathinaikos 18/03/2010 18:00 GMT
Marseille v Benfica 18/03/2010 18:00 GMT
Liverpool v Lille 18/03/2010 20:05 GMT
Sporting CP v Atletico Madrid 18/03/2010 20:05 GMT
Wolfsburg v Rubin Kazan 18/03/2010 20:05 GMT
Anderlecht v Hamburger SV 18/03/2010 20:05 GMT

Werder Bremen v Valencia: What can I say. The referee played a major part in the first game in Spain. After some ridiculous calls and a red card, it looked like Valencia was going to loose, but they were able to tie the game and keep all chances for advancing tonight. If you had the opportunity to watch the game you probably saw that Valencia was in deed the better team.

Werder had a game this week against Hoffenheim and with a late goal got away the 3 points. In the mean time Valencia was visiting Barcelona and lost 3:0 but from what I could see they were focused on the game today and didn’t try at all.

Werder doesn’t know the taste of defeat in the past 7 home games which shows they play very well at home. Valencia has no victory in the past 4 away games but when it comes to direct elimination I am sure they will try hard.

A safe bet for this game perhaps would be “Both Teams To Score” odds at 1.67 Bet now at BetFair

However my prediction would be an away victory for Valencia, based on their much better style of play in the first game. Odds of 3.55 Bet now at Betfair or choose from your favorite bookmakers:

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Fulham v Juventus: Juventus pretty much did their job in Italy , winning with 3:1. Fulham is well know for they strong home support and some brilliant games in the EPL at home like the one against United 3:0.

What they need tonight is a victory of 2:0 to advance in the next stage. Sure Juventus knows this as well, and will probably go for an early goal to kill the suspense in the game. Why? Because with an early away goals, Fulham will have to score at least 3 for overtime and 4 for direct advancing.

Although Juventus were definitely the better team last week, they do not need a victory here, so I will stay away from the 1 X 2 predictions.

I will go here with Both Teams To Score @ 1.79 Bet now at Betfair or choose your bookmaker below:

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Standard Liege v Panathinaikos: The biggest surprise the first leg was Standard Liege. Winning away with the score of 1-3 pretty much gives them the confidence and calmness for advancing in the next stage.

Panathinaikos was doing really well until last game. They eliminated Roma, which only showed how well they were doing. However after the embarrassing home defeat they chances for advancing are low.

Although Standard does not need a win here, they play some of their best games at home. If you can recall their games against Arsenal and how fast they lead 2:0 until the 20th minute. Unfortunately they lost the game 2:3 but still, quite good effort there.

It’s obvious that the Greeks need goals in this game, a lot of goals. If they actually believe they can pull a miracle here and win tonight, we should see quite a show.

My prediction for this game would be Over 2.5 Goals hoping that Panathinaikos will start looking for the goal from the first minute of the game. Odds @ 1.96 and going down. Bet on your online bookmaker:

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Marseille v Benfica: With an unfortunate goal in the 90th minute, Benfica’s victory slipped and the game ended 1:1. Lucky or not Marseille, now have the advantage with an away goal, and a home game.

Last weekend they had a visit against the team of Toulouse which ended 1:1, but it was obvious that the french team is saving their strength for Europa League.

Benfica will have to prove once again that they deserve a placement in the final 8 teams. They already did it once against Everton, beating them in England with 0:2

My prediction for this game would be however a home victory for Marseille, based on the fact that the home advantage and the goal away will result in a calm, more coordinated style of play which will lead to winning the game. Odds @ 2.20

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Liverpool v Lille: One of the most anticipated games tonight. After loosing the first leg in France with 1:0 Liverpool now has to win with at least a 1:0 in order to continue. So far they have dropped out from every cup they had a chance to play, so this is probably their only chance for trophy this year.

Have in mind that this weekend they have a game against United as well, which makes their program hard enough. Fernando Torres’s shape is improving with each game, and we had a chance to see that last weekend against Portsmouth.

Can they do that today? I am sure Lille is aware of the fact that they have to go for a goal here, because trying to hold a 0:0 is just not gonna work. A home win is very possible odds of 1.49.

Over 2.5 Goals is also a logical choice odds @ 1.99. It’s been a risk this year to predict games where Liverpool is involved but I will go with the home win here and trust that Benitez and Liverpool want a trophy.

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Sporting CP v Atletico Madrid: After ending in a boring 0:0 in Spain, both teams remain in the game. No real advantage for any of the teams really, since home ground will benefit Sporting, but a goal away from Atletico will require 2 from Sporting.

Looking of the statistics , Sporting has scored at least 3 goals each game in the last 3 home games, including a victory against Porto. Atletico has only 1 victory in their past 5 games away.

I am sure both teams have analyzed what went wrong the last game and will try to expose each others flaws. My prediction would be “Both Teams To Score” @ 1.82.

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Wolfsburg v Rubin Kazan: After being able to get a tie in freezing Russia, the team of Wolfsburg will probably have no problems with Rubin Kazan. If you have the unfortunate chance to see the game first leg, you probably died from boredom.

The terrain was so bad, even the fields around here where they have cows have better grass. I am seriously I can’t believe UEFA would give a license on such stadium, and Wolfsburg should be really proud with what they achieved.

Three home games for Wolfsburg in the past month and a half, 3 victories. The team is definitely playing strong at home and I expect nothing but a win tonight.

My predictions is a home victory for Wolfsburg odds @ 1.84 in Betfair:

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Anderlecht v Hamburger SV: After winning the first leg with 3:1, the team from Hamburger pretty much did most of the job for advancing.
Although Anderlecht are not to be underestimated, Hamburger SV have a lot of experience to loose such a comfortable lead.

The result in the previous game would mean that the Germans don’t even need a win tonight but would wanna score at least a goal. My prediction for this game would be “Both Teams To Score” odds @ 1.65:

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Thank you for visiting once gain. I hope this time, the games would be more predictable which will result in a better profit. Good luck betting and enjoy the night.

Related posts:

1. Europa League Betting Analysis & Predictions April 1st 2010
2. Champions League Analysis and Predictions for March 16th 2010
3. Europa League Predictions and Analysis March 11th 2010
4. Free Football Analysis and Predictions Europa League February 18th 2010