Thursday's Europa League Tips: Back a 7/2 Villa Bet Builder & 11/5 Forest to fire at the City Ground | OneFootball

Bologna v Roma Tip - Stalemate in all-Italian tie

Click here for Bologna v Roma odds17:45 kick-offLive on TNT Sports 3 & Discovery+

An all-Italian affair here with Bologna 2/1 at home, where they've won two of the last three but those being their only home wins in 12 - including defeat on Sunday against relegation candidates Verona. That result ended a five-game winning streak, the last four of which had all been 1-0s! That lack of goals has been their clear issue as they've scored more than once in just one of the past 11 home games.

Just two wins in eight isn't exactly sparkling form for 6/4 favourites Roma either though, and even though they've scored goals of late five of their last seven away games have still gone under 2.5 goals. They've drawn four of the last eight while Bologna were held in three of four home games in the group stage, so given the stakes are so high then chalk this first leg down as a stalemate.

Lille v Aston Villa Tip - Back 7/2 player prop Bet Builder

Click here for Lille v Aston Villa odds17:45 kick-offLive on TNT Sports 1 & Discovery+

Just two home wins in eight for Lille, including defeat to Red Star Belgrade here in their play-off first leg, but Aston Villa are still 7/5 for victory after a worrying four-game winless run. Four-time Europa League winner Unai Emery is the master of this competition though and he's had the weekend off to formulate a plan, which will no doubt prey on Lille's scoring troubles - they've struck just seven times in nine home games.

Villa should win but this could become a bit of a scrap with both sides struggling for confidence in front of goal, so this looks a good game to aim at for Betfair's Bet £10 Get £10 promotion on Bet Builders and with a treble required there's three standout candidates.

Benjamin Andre leads Lille in fouls with 12 in just seven Europa League appearances, committing multiple fouls in five games, while Douglas Luiz has had multiple fouls in three of his seven outings for Villa this season including the last two. The Brazilian also gave away a whopping eight fouls in just three Europa League games he played for Nottingham Forest this season.

Olivier Giroud completes our line-up with the veteran 4/9 for 1+ shot on target, which he's managed in eight of 10 Europa League games despite starting just four - he's likely to get the nod here but even if his doesn't he's proven he can come off the bench to make a difference.

Panathinaikos v Real Betis Tip - Back Benitez to bag a score draw

Click here for Panathinaikos v Real Betis odds17:45 kick-offLive on Discovery+ & TNT Sports Extra

Rafa Benitez helped steer Panathinaikos through the play-off round, albeit on penalties, and he'll have in-depth knowledge of Betis as he looks to cause a bigger upset as the Greeks are 12/5 to make the quarter-finals. They're also 11/4 outsiders even with home advantage in this first leg, with the Spaniards 1/1 to take a lead back to Seville.

Manuel Pellegrini's side have just hit a sticky patch with no wins in three and Benitez has never lost a home Europa League tie in 21 career matches so he'll have something up his sleeve to try and take advantage. Betis have a strong knockout record but Panathinaikos usually score, so throw everything in together and this one could well end up as a score draw.

Stuttgart v Porto Tip - Back Germans to take first-leg lead

Click here for Stuttgart v Porto odds17:45 kick-offLive on Discovery+ & TNT Sports 4

Porto finished fifth in the group but had a pretty easy time of things in terms of fixtures - playing nobody who finished higher than 13th (Forest who they lost to) and facing five of the bottom six in the final standings. And with just one away win in five you can see why they're 5/2 to win in Stuttgart.

And Stuttgart's only home defeat in 10 was their second leg against Celtic when already 4-0 up from a devastating first leg in Glasgow. Porto have conceded first in four of the past six Europa League games and if that trend strikes again it'll be a tough road back. Expect the Germans to grab a first-leg lead here .

Celta Vigo v Lyon Tip - Goals to come in home win

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Lyon topped the group stage with seven wins from eight, but like Porto their fixture list may have helped as six of those wins came against sides who failed to make the play-offs, while the other was 17th placed PAOK. Their one defeat came against Betis and fellow Spaniards Celta Vigo are 21/20 favourites to repeat that success.

Celta look to be emerging from their rough patch with a four-game winning run only narrowly ended by Real Madrid, while Lyon have just entered theirs with four games without a win - including back-to-back away defeats conceding three in both games. Defence had previously been a big strength for the French side with four clean sheets in a row, but that could be their undoing here in a game between two free-scoring sides.

Click here for Ferencvaros v Braga odds20:00 kick-offLive on Discovery+ & TNT Sports Extra

Ferencvaros are pretty strong at home, winning seven of the past nine Europa League games as hosts and losing just once in 12, but Braga are unbeaten on the road in Europe this season and have lost just one in 10 in all competitions so head to Hungary as 13/10 match favourites and 2/5 to progress from the tie.

Success for both has usually come with a clean sheet - Braga haven't conceded in their past three in the competition - so this could be a bit of a defensive arm wrestle. And that should suit Braga more and given their experience of success on the road this season they look better equipped to win out.

Genk v Freiburg Tip - Freiburg's travel sickness to strike again

Click here for Genk v Freiburg odds20:00 kick-offLive on Discovery+ & TNT Sports 4

It's a coin toss on the odds with the traders having both sides 8/5 to win this first leg with both sides in a bit of spotty form of late. Genk needed extra time to come through a play-off with Dinamo Zagreb after losing the second leg here 3-1 in 90 minutes, and while Freiburg looked strong in the group phase they have won just one of their four away games in the competition.

And Julian Schuster's side have really struggled on the road of late, failing to win an away game in 90 minutes this year and losing four of the past five - while failing to score a single goal in normal time during that spell. Genk have meanwhile scored 2+ goals in four straight Europa League games so despite neither side convincing right now the hosts could just have the firepower to pinch a lead.

Nottingham Forest v Midtjylland Tip - Back a first home win for Pereira

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Surprise package Midtjylland finished third in the group stage with six wins, including a 3-2 thriller at the City Ground back in October, but that was a long time ago, two managers ago in fact as Vitor Pereira looks for his first home win in charge as 1/2 hot favourites, with the Danes at what could look an attractive 9/2 for another upset win.

Forest did just get a 2-2 draw at Man City though to end a three-game losing streak that perhaps wasn't as bad as results suggested, they were unlucky against Liverpool and already had a 3-0 cushion against Fenerbahce in the play-off round. Pereira's games have been full of goals so far and Midtjylland bring an attacking threat, with three goals scored in three of their four away games in the league phase.

So there could be some fireworks here, and early ones and these two sides lead the Europa League with 10 first-half goals each so far - over 1.5 first-half goals in the match is 31/20 and well worth a look, but we'll stick with a home win in a bit of a shootout.