Thursday's Europa League Tips: 11/5 Stuttgart to shine, a stalemate in Seville & Roma to ruin Rangers' night | OneFootball

Paul Higham has Betfair's best betting tips for Thursday's Europa League games

Paul Higham has Thursday's Europa League tips, where he's backing wins for Villa and Forest but 11/8 Roma to inflict more misery on Rangers at Ibrox.

Sturm Graz v Nottingham Forest

17:45 kick-offLive on Discovery+ & TNT Sports 1

Sean Dyche made an immediate impact with a 2-0 win over Porto and Forest are 4/6 favourites heading to Austria with Sturm Graz just in a sticky spot having lost three of four including away at Celtic last time out in Europe.

Forest still have problems on the road - losing 2-0 at Bournemouth - and Dyche will be looking for a clean sheet first and foremost, so I wouldn't expect them to continue with the high-scoring Europa League games they started the campaign with.

But Sturm Graz have conceded 2+ goals in four of their last six European games and look vulnerable at the moment so Forest look good value for a low-scoring victory.

Midtjylland v Celtic

Martin O'Neill has done the trick so far, but he now has to transform Celtic's European form as they visit the Europa League group leaders who've won all three games so far - with Midtjylland 1/1 favourites and unbeaten in four home games in Europe this season (W3 D1).

It's 14 European away games without a win for 12/5 Celtic and Midtjylland are tough nuts to crack with five clean sheets in six in Europe, but with O'Neill lifting this Celtic squad they have enough confidence to go to Denmark and get a point.

Red Star v Lille

17:45 kick-offLive on Discovery+ & TNT Sports Extra

A shock 4-3 home defeat to PAOK last time out ended Lille's winning start to the group stage, but they're still 5/4 fancies in Belgrade against winless Red Star, who drew their home opener against Celtic on matchday one.

Lille have been an odd side away from home, winning in Rome but losing domestically to Lens and Nice recently. Red Star can't keep a clean sheet though - with none in the last 12 Europa League games - so let's back the French side to get back on track here.

Utrecht v Porto

17:45 kick-offLive on TNT Sports Extra & Discovery+

No points and not even a single goal so far for Utrecht, who have lost all three games to sides currently in the top eight, and they're underdogs again at 18/5 as Porto arrive in the Netherlands looking to bounce back from a first defeat of the group stage at Forest last week.

Utrecht did win at the weekend but that was just the second in 10 games and in Europe they've not won in 14 so it's hard to make a case for them here. Porto have won seven of eight away games this season with five clean sheets, so it's even tough to make a case for the hosts finally scoring a goal - I think it'll be more of the same from Porto here.

Aston Villa v Maccabi Tel Aviv

20:00 kick-offLive on TNT Sports 2 & Discovery+

There's a load of political controversy around this game, but in footballing terms it looks as straightforward as you can get for 2/11 favourites Aston Villa as they look to respond to a shock defeat to Go Ahead Eagles. Unai Emery's side are powerhouses at home though, beating Man City last time out at Villa Park.

Maccabi have just one point and one goal from three games so really shouldn't pose too much of a threat, keeping just one clean sheet in 23 European games, and with the strength Villa have and their home crowd I expect them to keep going for the full game - which opens up the chance to back them to win both halves at a decent price for such heavy favourites.

He doesn't seem likely to start, but if Morgan Rogers is in the starting XI then he's worth a look at first goalscorer at 6/1 as he's looked really lively of late and his last three goals have been Villa's first of the match while his last two goals in Europe have been match openers.

Now read Dave Tindall's full match preview of Villa v Maccabi Tel Aviv

Real Betis v Lyon

20:00 kick-offLive on TNT Sports Extra & Discovery+

Two of the bigger names clash here with Real Betis unbeaten but not yet firing on all cylinders with draws against Forest and Genk, while Lyon have made a storming start with three wins from three coming along with three clean sheets. So on that form they look great value as 2/1 underdogs in Seville.

Manuel Pelligrini's side are also good at the back, with clean sheets in their last two Europa League games, and they've lost just once in nine European games on home soil. Being 17/20 favourites feels a little short to me with Lyon unbeaten in 12 European aways over 90 minutes - so all in all this one smells like a draw.

Stuttgart v Feyenoord

20:00 kick-offLive on Discovery+ & TNT Sports Extra

You'd expect both of these to have more than three points at this stage, but Stuttgart struggled badly away from home, so will welcome the return home against a Feyenoord side that lost their only other away game in Braga on matchday one.

So the Germans are big favourites at 7/10 after five straight home wins and three clean sheets, but Feyenoord could be lively at 7/2 with Robin van Persie's side winning four of six on the road domestically. In Europe though it's no wins in six aways so even though we'll back them to get a goal the Bundesliga side should be too strong.

Twelve of Feyenoord's last 14 European game have seen both sides score, and that's a run we expect to continue.

Braga v Genk

20:00 kick-offLive on TNT Sports Extra & Discovery+

Three wins from three for Braga so far who like Lyon have yet to concede a goal, and with just two home defeats in 2025 they're rightly 13/20 to beat Genk - who have served up a bit of everything in the Europa League so far.

One thing they've not supplied is goals, as Genk's three games have yielded just two goals in total so don't expect a shootout. Genk have lost just two of seven European aways while Braga have kept eight clean sheets in 10 in Europe so the 0-0 is really in play here.

But instead I'm backing the hosts to edge it.

Rangers v Roma

20:00 kick-offLive on TNT Sports 3 & Discovery+

Roma have had a nightmare run, losing both home games against Lille and Viktoria Plzen but Rangers can trump that with three defeats from three, so it's almost last chance saloon time at Ibrox for the 15/4 match outsiders.

An extra time defeat to Celtic was not ideal preparation for this for new boss Danny Rohl, whose first game in charge as a 3-0 loss at Brann in the last round - Rangers' sixth straight European defeat. So even in this slump Roma are 4/6 to win in Glasgow.

The Italians may actually fancy this better than playing at the Stadio Olimpico, as they won five straight away games to start the season. That run ended against Milan at the weekend but, let's face it, Rangers are very much not Milan.

Recommended bets

Back Forest to win & under 2.5 goals @ 10/3 Back Aston Villa to win both halves @ 8/5 Back Roma to beat Rangers & under 3.5 goals @ 11/8