The second round of matches in the Uefa Europa League take place on Thursday and we take a look at Lyon vs Crystal Palace, Torreense vs Sunderland and Celta Vigo vs Juventus
Lyon vs Crystal Palace
Lyon opened their Europa League campaign with a 2-1 win away to Anderlecht. They were 2-0 up inside the first quarter of the game thanks to goals from Nartey and Nakamura and although the deficit was halved after the break they came away with maximum points. In Ligue 1 Lyon are fourth with 3 wins, 2 draws and 1 defeat. They lost 2-1 away to Lens last weekend but prior to the international break they were 4-0 winners at home to Rennes.
Palace put Lech Poznan away 4-0 in their first Europa League action. Last season’s Conference League winners were 3-0 up by half time thanks to Pinot, Richards and a Strand Larsen penalty and after the visitors had a man sent off on 87 minutes Nketiah added the fourth. Palace started the EPL season slowly before a win at Fulham and their last 2 results were very positive, a useful 0-0 draw away to in form Leeds and aat the weekend they were 3-1 winners at home to Forest.
The Verdict:
Lyon are a decent side and Palace seem to be finding their feetafter a shaky first few games under their new coach, I’ll go small stakes on a Pinot assist.
Bet: Yeremi Pinot to assist at 39/10 with Sportingbet
Torreense vs Sunderland
Goals either side of half time from Alejandro Alfaro and Manu Pozo put Torrennse in charge of their opening UEL match away to Lillestrom and although they conceded on 79 minutes and had Jatta sent off on 85 minutes they held on for the win. Torrennse ply their trade in Portugal’s second division where they have won 1, drawn 3 and lost 3 of their first 7 league games.
Sunderland’s first European fixture for more than 50 years saw them edge out AZ Alkmaar 1-0 at the Stadium of Light with an Enzo Le Fee second half penalty. They dominated the Dutch high flyers in the first half but rode their luck late on t hold out for the win. In the EPL Sunderland have made a below par start, winning just 1 of their first 6 matches and after aa 2-0 home defeat to Brighton at the weekend they have 4 points and are just above the relegation zone.
The Verdict
I think we will see many changes to the Sunderland line up and not just because they haven’t been in the best of form. Chris Rigg must be one of the first in the queue to get some minutes, I’ll wager he starts and hopefully he scores.
Bets: Anytime goalscorer Chris Rigg at 12/5 with Hollywoodbets
Celta Vigo vs Juventus
Celta Vigo’s opening game of the competition ended in disappointment as they went down 1-0 away to Omonia Nicosia with the decisive goal coming in the 88th minute. In La Liga Celta have won just 1 of their first 8 matches but 5 games have finished all square and they have lost just 2. A league goals tally of 8 and 6 conceded seemingly tells a tale of tight matches but they did win their most recent home fixture against Racing Santander 5-0 before last weekend’s 0-0 draw away to Elche.
Juve began their campaign by handing out a 5-0 hiding to NEC Nijmegan in Turin. González, Alajbegović, Woltemade (pen), Çelik and Kolo Muani were the scorers. In Serie A Juventus are sixth with 3 wins, 2 draws and 1 defeat .Most recently they drew 1-1 away to Cagliari.
The Verdict
I’m just tempted enough by the 11/10 for the away win although Celta’s form is a bit baffling and Juve are doing no better than OK in Serie A.
Bets: Away win at 11/10 with Hollywoodbets
Note, prices are subject to change
