Thursday's Europa League Tips: Count cards for Forest & back 7/1 Celtic Bet Builder | OneFootball

Paul Higham's Europa League betting tips include 7/1 Bet Builder for Celtic vs Stuttgart

Paul Higham has his best bets for all of Thursday's Europa League play-offs, including a 7/2 shout for Nottingham Forest and a big 7/1 Bet Builder on Celtic's tie with Stuttgart...

PAOK v Celta VigoThursday 19 February, 17:45 kick-offLive on Discovery+ & TNT Sports Extra

An interesting tie this one as Celta won 3-1 at home when they played in the group stage, but PAOK didn't lose at home and in fact are unbeaten at the Toumba Stadium all season in all competitions (W16 D5) which is why they're 29/20 match favourites and Celta are 19/10 after just one away win in six in the Europa League.

The Spaniards are winless in five but they have mostly been able to score on the road so even though PAOK only conceded once at home in the group stages I think Celta will get a goal, but I can't see them winning the game.

Brann v BolognaThursday 19 February, 17:45 kick-offLive on TNT Sports Extra & Discovery+

Brann sneaked into the top 24 only on goal difference and haven't won in their last five in the competition - including their only three games since the start of December due to the Norwegian league not starting again until March. Bologna only just missed out on the top eight after winning three of their last four, so they're rightly 8/11 favourites.

The Italians have only won two of the last eight in all competitions though so although they should win it may not all be plain sailing, and it's always tough playing away in Norway at this time of year with the frigid conditions - so we'll temper expectations on goals.

Dinamo Zagreb v GenkThursday 19 February, 17:45 kick-offLive on TNT Sports Extra & Discovery+

Genk only just missed out on the top eight on goal difference while Dinamo Zagreb finished 23rd after one win in their last five, including two out of three at a home ground that usually had made life extra tough for visiting teams. So I'm not having them as 23/20 match favourites here as both Betis and Celta Vigo turned them over comfortably.

And visiting Genk have won four of five away games in Europe this season and only lost 1-0 at Midtjylland so that's pretty decent form and at 23/10 to win the match I'm happy to keep it simple here and just back the Belgians to take a lead back with them for the second leg.

Fenerbahce v Nottingham ForestThursday 19 February, 17:45 kick-offLive on Discovery+ & TNT Sports 3

Forest's fourth manager of the season Vitor Pereira has a tough trip to Turkey for his debut - against one of his former sides - in a tie they're expected to come through but an away game they're 9/4 underdogs in. Fenerbahce are 6/5 here after fourth straight domestic wins and 11 goals scored since limping over the line in the group stage.

Much here will depend on how Forest's players react to Sean Dyche's shock dismissal as if they're focused then the new manager bounce could strike - and it's strong with Pereira as he's won his opening match in his last seven jobs. Forest have also been just lacking a finisher at times too, as they've had the second-most shots on target in the competition (53) and a couple more goals would've seen them bag a top-eight finish.

So I don't think Forest will lose but there's too much uncertainty to back the result market - instead we'll go for cards as Fenerbahce lead the competition with 33 and Forest have had 2+ in six of eight games, while Igor Jesus has six goals in the Europa League this season so regardless of the result I can't see the Turkish side keeeping him out.

Celtic v StuttgartThursday 19 February, 20:00 kick-offLive on Discovery+ & TNT Sports 1

Martin O'Neill is still unbeaten in his latest stint as Celtic boss (W8 D2) but his side are 9/4 to win at home against Stuttgart, who are 11/10 after winning five of their past six in all competitions. They lost three of four Europa League aways though without scoring in away of those defeats, so there's more than a hint of a problem for them on the road.

So the draw at 5/2 makes the most appeal of the results, but with both sides struggling to keep clean sheets I'd rather base a slihgtly long-winded little Bet Builder around both teams to score, which is 6/10, and add in a couple of fouls from the competition leader Lorenz Assignon in the red-hot atmosphere at Parkhead. We'll also back both keepers to be busy as Kasper Schmeichel has made 3+ saves in six of eight in the competition while Alexander Nubel has made 12 saves in four away games so far.

Panathinaikos v PlzenThursday 19 February, 20:00 kick-offLive on Discovery+ & TNT Sports Extra

Viktoria Plzen were the only team to emerge unbeaten from the group stage and they had the best defence with just three goals conceded, but five draws were too many to get a top eight place despite all that and despite being odds-on to progress they're 21/10 underdogs in Greece against Rafa Benitez's Panathinaikos.

The hosts have only won one in four in all competitions though and with two home wins in 13 Europa League home games aren't exactly big fancies here at 7/5, and with seven of their past eight going under 2.5 goals we shouldn't expect a thriller either. A repeat of the 0-0 they played out in December is priced at 8/1 and not the worst bet in the world here, but we'll just play it a bit safer to include a possible 1-1 too.

Lille v Red Star BelgradeThursday 19 February, 20:00 kick-offLive on TNT Sports 3 & Discovery+

We've got Lille at 4/6 here but with just one win in nine they're bang out of form, while visiting Red Star may be 4/1 but they finished fast with four wins in the last five group stage games, so aren't without a chance after finishing above their opponents and also beating them 1-0 in November.

All four of their wins were 1-0s in fact and with a rotten knock-out record they'll be focused on defending first so 1/1 on under 2.5 goals looks a decent shout here for the match. There's juice in the half-time 0-0 draw though, as Red Star have just two first-half goals in the competition while just three of Lille's 12 goals came in the opening 45 minutes.

Ludogorets v FerencvarosThursday 19 February, 20:00 kick-offLive on TNT Sports Extra & Discovery+

Amazingly, this is the fourth meeting this season after these two sides met in Champions League and the Europa league group stages - with Ferencvaros drawing 0-0 at Ludogorets and winning two home games 3-0 and 3-1. The Bulgarians are 13/8 to win at home, where they won seven of their 10 points in the group, while the visiting Hungarians are 17/10.

Both sides only kept one clean sheet in the group so we are likely to get goals again despite this being a first leg, albeit I don't think we'll see a winner and with Robbie Keane in charge and having plenty of experience he'll be happy enough to return for the home leg all square.

Now read all of our latest Europa League match previews & best bets

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