Everton boast slender lead ahead of Europa League second leg battle

Europa League 14/1 chances Everton have been terrible in the Premier League this term, but are England’s last European competitions representative before they face Dynamo Kiev, as Manchester City went out to Barcelona in the Champions League.

The Toffees hold a 2-1 advantage going into this last 16 second leg, and need just a draw (9/4 with Coral) in hostile Ukraine to qualify for the quarters.

Everton also go into this match off the back of a rare domestic win, as they easily dispatched of Newcastle United at Goodison Park 3-0, and are tempting 12/5 chances for a victory in 90.

Romelu Lukaku was on target via a penalty against the Magpies at the weekend, and was also spot-on against Kiev (10/11 odds-on favourites) in the first leg. You can back the big Belgian at 7/4 to net again anytime.

Talented Scot Steven Naismith also grabbed a goal against the Ukrainians, and is 7/2 in the same market, and an enticing 10/1 to score first.

Leon Osman spoke ahead of the game, saying: “[Roberto Martinez] has a big squad, a good squad. We had five changes for Newcastle but we were still really strong.

“There’ll be changes again on Thursday I’m sure and there’s a load of competition for places, but we’re in this as a team.

“There’s no sulking if you’re not in the team – it’s all about the 11 that are out there getting a result.

“We’re certainly going there with confidence, even though these ties are difficult in places like Ukraine,” he added.

“They’ll be making it as difficult as they can for us, but we’re looking forward to it. We’ll be going there with a goal advantage. It’ll be difficult but we’re confident.”

But Everton have a few doubts for this match, in Tony Hibbert, Aiden McGeady and Steven Pienaar, while Bryan Oviedo and Kevin Mirallas are definitely out.

Tricky Morocco attacker Younes Belhanda is ruled out for former Spurs and West Ham United player Serhiy Rebrov’s men.

Oleg Gusev got the sole goal for Kiev in the first leg, and he is 7/4 to net anytime, while in-demand forward Andriy Yarmolenko is 5/4 in the same market.