Europa League round one breakdown

After the beginning of the Champions League last week, the beginning of the Europa League has begun. There are some fascinating clashes to get stuck into this evening after Wednesday’s drama, which will be important for all teams involved due to the new league format.

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Wednesday fixtures

We had our opening round of fixtures in the Europa League on Wednesday evening with a few results that ought to motivate the teams playing on Thursday. Manchester United were 1/7 favourites at home to Twente but failed to make a winning start, coming away from Old Trafford with a 1-1 draw.

The Red Devils scored first and looked as if they would kill the tie off as the game went on but were countered by a defiant Twente outfit, so there’s no doubt there’s an opportunity now for teams who will look to take advantage of the points dropped by United in what looked a fairly routine victory.

Elsewhere, Nice drew to Real Sociedad with Bodo/Glimt upsetting the odds to overturn Porto 3-2 in their opener, the Norwegian side could be a dark horse to go far in the competition this year.

Thursday’s fixtures

We have another slate of nine fixtures Thursday evening to get stuck into, with current tournament market leader Tottenham (9/2) in action against Qarabag. They’re 1/7 to win their opening fixture but it would be a real shock if they weren’t to take all three points in this home fixture against the Azerbaijani side.

Similarly to Man United, there’s no reason for them not to list a strong side on Thursday, especially after manager Ange Postecoglou’s bullish comments saying that he always wins in his second season at a club, he won’t take any Europa League fixture lightly.

This will be a good opportunity for some attacking players to get on the board and gain some confidence, there are some goalscorer bets that stick out. Brennan Johnson looks a good bet at 7/5 with James Maddison another at 12/5 who looks a bit big, if you believe that Ange won’t rotate in this midweek fixture.

Roma host Athletic Bilbao at the Stadio Olimpico. The Italians haven’t had the greatest of starts to Serie A this season as they get used to life after Jose Mourinho, only winning once in their first five games. Roma fans ought to be disappointing due to the strength of their side, but there is quality in there and they can make a run in this year’s competition.

Winning their most recent league game 3-0, with a side featuring players such as Paulo Dybala, there’s no reason to believe that can’t take the momentum into their European opener. The aforementioned Dybala is the main man, he looks a good bet at 23/20 to score or assist in the game, he scored in their recent league win over Udinese.

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